


Into The Dark

by liziscribbles



Series: Darkness Around The Sun [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Persona Fusion, First Kiss, First Time Blow Jobs, Frottage, Kidnapping, Mild torture, Multi, Promptis is still the major ship and I still don't apologize, bad dad!Verstael, glasses!prompto, let the slow burn continue, socially anxious!prompto, tsundere big brother!Loqi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2018-12-16 23:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 128,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11839548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liziscribbles/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: Continuation of In The Dark I See, part two of the Darkness Around The Sun universe!After their grim discovery, the team tries to figure out exactly what is making everything go haywire.  But you know what they say: things have to get worse before they can get better.(Persona fusion AU. Persona elements are very altered, and explained enough to make it friendly to those who haven't played!  It's highly recommended that you read In The Dark I See first, or else you likely won't understand what's happening here! ♥)





	1. Vacation

Altissia in autumn was far more gorgeous than it was in summer. In the summer, it was hot. Temperatures could get up to the hundreds, and it wasn't a dry heat, either. Prompto could handle the dry heat, having grown up in Hammerhead. In fact, he was almost comfortable in the dry heat. Humidity, though... he was really, really bad at humidity. That was what summers in Altissia were like. At least, that's what Iris told him.

 _"It's the type of heat that makes your clothes stick to your body from sweat. Makes you smell at the end of the day."_ Iris had accompanied her story by pinching her nose and waving her hand in front of it in disgust. _"The super icky and uncomfortable kind. Be lucky you guys're going now. It should be bearable, and the ocean will be nice and warm from the hot summer if you decide to swim!"_

Honestly, as they approached the Altissian shoreline on the ferry, Prompto could feel the difference. The ocean air was nice and cool, smelled pleasantly of the salty essence of the water, and made him feel more alive than he'd felt in years. For the whole ride, Noctis and Prompto stood at the bow of the boat, watching on the horizon for the first sign of Altissia. As they stood and stared into the distance, bits of salted spray splashed up and hit Prompto's backup glasses—Astrals did he hate this pair; they were ancient and a sort of old prescription, which meant that his vision was a little bit blurry—but he couldn't find it in himself to complain. He loved the ocean, and even if he didn't, the way Noctis smiled as he stood to Prompto's left would have been enough to make him change his mind.

By the time they arrived in Altissia, cool ocean air had shifted into a humid autumn day. According to his phone, the temperature throughout the country of Accordo was still in the mid-nineties, which was still about fifteen degrees higher than it was in Galdin Quay when they left. He was a little overdressed, in a t-shirt and jeans, but that was okay. Their first stop was supposed to be Weskham's apartment, anyway.  He could change there.

Prompto's crutches tapped and clicked a little as they hit the pier, but his attention wasn't really on where he was going. He turned and spotted Noctis, using his uninjured arm to pull the small trolley with their bags along behind him. Honestly, Prompto felt kind of bad for not being able to help his friend more, but Noctis had pretty much insisted.

In the month that had passed since their injuries the night that Gladio and Nyx got their aeons, not much had changed. Well, okay. That both was and wasn't true. Hour Twenty-Five was now _twelve_ minutes longer, instead of just ten, and they were no closer to figuring out why or how it was happening. Alongside that was the fact that somehow, even despite their staff being cut in more than half, hunts were being taken as normal, by someone other than them. Some nights, there were _more_ hunts taken and successfully completed than on the nights when the whole group was on their feet and okay. No one had any idea who was doing it or how it was happening, but even _with_ that, even _with_ the number of successful hunts being completed every night, the daemon population was still growing. It was a widely accepted fact that normal people weren't safe to go out at night anymore, unless they were accompanied by hunter guards.

There was an air of hopelessness running through all of Eos, and no matter what, there was nothing their group could do now when they were still cut in half.

On the positive side, the whole group had made pretty good progress healing. Nyx, for his part, was almost completely healed, and so was Gladio. Ignis' concussion symptoms receded completely by the third week—the doctor said that it was abnormally long for a concussion as minor as his had been, but it was easy to attribute that to his refusal to stop with his research—and his knee was almost back to fighting shape as well. The only lingering things that plagued Ignis were the injuries in his wrists. Gladio and Weskham thought that maybe it had more to do with the research, too. According to Gladio, he'd never really _rested_ them, beyond that first night. As time passed, everyone in the compound was becoming more and more concerned about him.

It was enough to make Prompto suggest to Noctis that they postpone this week away. Noctis had insisted that Prompto put those worries out of his mind for a week, though, and enjoy their trip to Altissia together. It was equal parts easy and difficult to do. Noctis swore that Gladio would make sure that Ignis didn't do too much; didn't overwork himself, though. That was all the reassurance Prompto needed.

So, as Noctis and Prompto traveled along the streets of Altissia, Prompto just... smiled. It was beautiful. Sculptures and architecture like nowhere else in the world. He couldn't resist. His hand found his camera, and he started snapping pictures of literally everything that they passed. A bistro that looked like something out of a romantic comedy. A music trio, composed of an accordion player, a violinist, and a singer. A giant statue of an angel. Noctis unaware, smiling as he looked at the expanse of ocean off the edge of the pier front of them. After snapping the picture of Noctis, he simply stood there, with the camera focused on his best friend for a few extra seconds.

Much to his surprise, though, Noctis turned to look at him. His camera was still up and trained on Noctis' face, and Noctis was looking at him, pale blue eyes shining curiously. "Were you, um... were you taking a picture of me?" he asked.

Heat rose to Prompto's cheeks, and he tried, for a couple of seconds, to play it off like he wasn't embarrassed. It failed completely, though. He nodded once, lowering his camera, and then lowering his eyes, refusing to meet Noctis' eye. "Y-yeah. You, um... you looked happy. Looking at the ocean, I mean. S-so, I thought maybe I'd... I already got one. I-if you want me to delete it, I-"

Noctis shook his head no, beckoning for Prompto to join him. "C'mon. We should get one together. One on my phone, too, so we can send it back to the others. Confirmation that we made it in one piece and sort of a 'bet you wish you were here' kind of thing." As he spoke, he fished his phone from his pants pocket.

It made sense. Besides, "I don't think we actually have any pictures together," Prompto mused. He had considered, many times, lifting his camera and sneaking pictures of Noctis. He always thought twice, though. Noctis wouldn't want him to. That was what he always told himself. The way Noctis had just embraced it, though—the way he'd gone with the flow—made Prompto wonder if that was actually true.

Whether it was true or not, the fact remained that they didn't have any pictures together. Prompto wished, kind of, that Noctis had waited until the next day to suggest it. The next day, he would have his new glasses, and he wouldn't be wearing these stupid ones anymore. Swallowing nervously, he dared himself to make the suggestion.

"M-maybe we should wait until tomorrow?" Prompto asked as he filtered through his camera settings. "I mean... when I have my new glasses and don't look so dumb in these old ones. You know?"

Noctis shrugged. "Well, for one... I don't think you look dumb," he started, his eyes darting down to look at his phone. It was obviously a trick of Prompto's glasses that made it look like Noctis' cheeks were dusted pink. "And for two, maybe we can like... do a before and after thing? Take one now, and one tomorrow?" With a one-shouldered shrug, he finally glanced back up at Prompto.

Pausing for a couple of seconds, and peering up from looking through his filters. He had the perfect filter to bring out the color of Noctis' eyes, and he wanted to use it, but Noctis' voice pulled his attention from the camera. "It's just new glasses," he remarked with a tiny smile. "You really think it's worth a before and after?"

Nodding, Noctis smoothed his opposite hand through his hair. The mess simply fell back into its place, and Prompto couldn't fight a smirk. A smirk that only lasted until Noctis spoke up again. "I think," he said, "you need more pictures of you. And... and I don't have any shots of us together, either. Unless you don't want one." He pulled one side of his lower lip into his mouth.

Truth be told, Prompto liked being behind the camera, but he'd never been a fan of being in front of it. There were pictures of him in groups. School pictures, pictures of him with Cid, Cindy, and Aranea... some shots that the others on the compound had dragged him into, too. Iris seemed to like to take random selfies. Still, being in a picture with Noctis? Taking a picture where they were doing some silly and cliche pose together, or even just both smiling at the camera, side by side... yeah, Prompto could deal with that. A tiny smirk quirked his lips up, and he looked at the ground, bashfully.

"I want one," was his simple answer.

Noctis nodded. "Me too," he replied.

Rather than focus on that fact, the concept that Noctis wanted a picture together with Prompto, of all people, he lifted his head and started looking around the area for the perfect place to get a good shot. After a few seconds of deliberation, it was decided that they would lean against the railing to the pier. Trying to take the pictures themselves wasn't exactly easy with their injuries, so after they flagged down a pair of elderly strangers, and gave a vague explanation of how to take a picture with Prompto's camera and Noctis' phone, they stood side by side at the railing to the pier.

Much to Prompto's surprise, Noctis' good arm found its way around him. Not around his shoulders—which was probably good, because while the injury had mostly healed, his shoulder was still sore to sudden touches and unexpected weight—but around his waist instead. It came to rest gently, tentatively, on Prompto's hip. The bone bruise still hurt sometimes, but now wasn't one of those times. Prompto _tried_ to fight with the heat that rose to the surface of his skin, but he was pretty sure he failed. Even so, he leaned into Noctis just slightly, casting his eyes to the side, to look at Noctis and wordlessly ask if it was okay.

Noctis just nodded once, the tiniest smirk on his face. The elderly couple looked at them in confusion for a couple of seconds, before smiling, nodding, and lifting the camera and Noctis' phone. One, two, three pictures, and then the couple approached them, offering the camera and phone back. Noctis accepted one and then the other, while Prompto hobbled back over to gather his crutches from where he'd leaned them against the pier. When he turned back around and hobbled back over to Noctis, his friend's next words were the absolute last words Prompto ever expected to hear from _anyone_ , let alone from Noctis.

"We look good together." Noctis looked up from Prompto's camera, his eyes a little nervous as he draped the strap back over Prompto's neck.

Together. They looked good... together. Of course, he didn't actually think that Noctis meant it like that. Not really. But as Prompto glanced down at his cameras display, and filtered between the three photos that the old woman had taken with his camera, he couldn't help the slight fluttering in his stomach. They _did_ look good next to each other, and if Prompto didn't know better, he would have allowed himself to be convinced that they were a couple. Noctis' hand rested on his hip gently, and the pair of them smiled with the Accordan ocean in the background, and Prompto couldn't recall the last time he'd ever looked so _happy_ in a picture.

School pictures always had him looking miserable, being around the other kids that made him feel like he didn't deserve to exist. Pictures with friends always had him feeling like the odd one out among groups. Aranea and Cindy tried their best, but Prompto knew that the two of them were closer to each other than they were to him. Which was fine, that was how it was supposed to be. He was happy in the selfies that Iris took, because it was impossible not to feed on the energy that she gave. This picture, though? This one was different. The expression on his own face astounded him. His eyes were smiling, and his lips were curled into a smile that looked almost unfamiliar to him. Noctis, too, looked truly happy, and while Prompto knew the reason why _he_ smiled, he had to wonder if he was providing the same thing to Noctis as Noctis was providing to him.

A cure for a lifetime of loneliness. A safe place to hide when the world was a little too much. If that was true? Then Prompto could really say that he felt like his life was worthwhile now. There was heat in his cheeks again, but despite that, he looked up and met Noctis' eye. "We do," he agreed, saving all three of the pictures and then letting his camera hang back at his chest again.

Noctis gathered the handle to pull the trolley with their bags in his good hand, and beckoned for Prompto to follow him with a slight crane of his neck. "So, I wanna show you pretty much everything I know about this city, plus some things that Iris, Iggy, Gladio, and Wesk suggested, but I think we should probably drop all of this stuff at the apartment, yeah?"

"Guess so," Prompto nodded.

With a grin, Noctis nodded his head. "And then, we can figure out dinner and spend however long you want out exploring the city. What do you think?" he offered, leading the way down a side street, pointedly ignoring two staircases that led to bridges, in favor of a straightaway that led around a corner to Prompto had no clue where.

It didn't matter where, though. He'd follow Noctis to the end of the universe and then some.

As they walked, Prompto listened to Noctis tell stories about times spent with his friends and his dad in Altissia. He told of the time that Pelna and Nyx took Noctis and Crowe out to what would turn out to be Noctis' favorite fishing spot on one of the far piers. Then, he told the long and winding tale of the time that he and his dad spent the entire day eating at every single one of the food stalls in the city, and then ended the day at the monster arena, where they'd gambled away every single penny they had. Some of the stories were long, like the one about racing Iris from one end of the pier to the other, which somehow resulted in Noctis tripping and falling into the water and coming back up with the biggest Cygilian sea bass he'd ever seen. That story had lasted a whole gondola ride, and ended with Noctis smiling wide as they continued down a side street.

"We ate like gods that night. Cygilian sea bass fillet with cheese potatoes. Iggy also made this carrot and tomato thing that I didn't eat, but according to everyone else, it was super good."

Prompto smiled with his whole face. It was so nice, seeing Noctis this happy. Not that it was a rarity, but after everything he'd been through, especially over the past couple of months, it was so good to see a real, genuine smile on his face. The way the corners of his mouth quirked, the way his eyes sparkled, and the way his nose crinkled just slightly when he laughed... he looked perfect.

Before Prompto could stop himself, a question sprang from his mind to his mouth. "You think you could catch one for me? While we're here?" he asked nonchalantly, realizing exactly what he asked a couple of seconds later.

"What, a Cygilian sea bass? Yeah, I can totally do that. And then you can fry it up," Noctis smiled a confident smile, then stopped and looked over at an old, five-story building in front of them. "This is it." The confident smile faded into a gentle and wistful one, as he let his eyes roam the building and come to settle on the door.

Curiously, Prompto allowed his eyes to follow Noctis'. "What floor?" he asked. He couldn't deny a little bit of concern. He could handle stairs on his crutches, sure, but he really, really wanted to avoid five floors of it, if possible.

Noctis smirked. "Top. Weskham likes high apartments, and it was the only one with enough bedrooms for a couple and two singles. There's an elevator in there, though. Don't worry. Totally thought of that when I was planning things."

Of course he'd thought of it. Noctis was amazing. Thoughtful. The best person Prompto knew. Smiling a shy smile, he followed behind Noctis as they walked into the building. The interior was decorated nicely. It looked like one of those high-end apartment buildings in movies. It made sense. Prompto couldn't see Ignis or Weskham willingly living in an apartment that _wasn't_ high-end. Even their cabins back on the compound were pretty high-end. As they walked the first floor to get to the elevator at the end, Prompto took in his surroundings. The walls were lined with art like Prompto had never seen. Brilliant drawings of things both real and imagined. Photos of scenery around Altissia, things Prompto remembered passing on their way here. The door to each apartment was green, and each one had a golden name plate on it; Bianchi, Saluber, and Dyson.

Prompto suddenly felt like a country mouse, but every single thing here was fascinating to him. He looked around in wonder.  When Noctis finished situating, the trolley into the elevator, he stood in the door and stepped out of the way so that Prompto could get in. Once they were all situated as comfortably as they could be in the elevator, Prompto turned to look at Noctis with a bashful smile.

"Altissia is amazing," Prompto murmured.

With a soft chuckle, Noctis hummed his agreement. "Always been one of the places I like going the most." He glanced down at his cast, and then looked back up at Prompto. "Wait 'til you see some of the stuff I have planned," he mused as the elevator door opened. "You think what you've seen is pretty? Wait'll we _actually_ get to look around. Wait'll I bring you to the galleries and... man, I'm so excited for this, Prom. I'm so excited we get to just unwind and have fun."

"Just the two of us..." Prompto murmured, before he could stop himself.

Noctis nodded. "Yeah. Gotta admit, as much as I love everyone else, as much as I love our family and everything, spending some time with just you will be..." He trailed off, glancing down at the floor, then shrugged one of his shoulders. "Fun. Really fun," he finished.

Fun. That was definitely a word for it. The last time they'd really gone somewhere together, just the two of them, was the trip to Galdin Quay. That trip was nice when it started, but after what happened with Ravus... well, Prompto was glad to have a second chance to spend some time with Noctis. Some time away from responsibilities for awhile. So, yeah. It would be fun.

Prompto nodded, but before he got a chance to reply, the elevator doors dinged open and revealed another short hallway. It was several feet long, and it had a door at the end of it that looked exactly like all of the doors on the first floor. The plate on the door had 'Armaugh' engraved on it, and it was then that Prompto realized that the apartment wasn't _on_ the fifth floor. The apartment _was_ the fifth floor. Kind of like his dad's apartment, only it didn't hold the same feeling of foreboding as approaching his dad's apartment did. Even the outside felt more like a home than his dad's apartment did. It was decorated much nicer than the halls that led to his dad's place. The whole building was _warmer_ , too, which was weird, because Hammerhead wasn't a cold place by any stretch of the imagination.

Prompto watched from a couple of steps back as Noctis fished in his pants pocket for the key to Weskham's apartment. He unlocked and opened the door, before reaching in to flip a light switch, and then stepping aside and letting Prompto walk in first. "Go ahead and take a look around." The words were gentle, encouraging, and when Prompto met his eye, he saw the huge, excited smile on Noctis' face. It almost looked like Noctis was more excited than Prompto was, somehow.

It was hard to fight a little smirk at the expression on Noctis' face, because it was really, really cute. Like, the cutest thing that Prompto had ever seen, cute. With a soft chuckle, Prompto started crutching into the apartment. When he got a few steps inside, though, he immediately froze. Now he understood why Noctis was so excited.

Honestly, the apartment looked like the type of place that Prompto had only ever seen in magazines. The walls in the entrance hall were decorated in patterned beige wallpaper, and the floors were black and made of marble. In the living room, he saw plush, burgundy colored rug that took up most of the room, a black leather couch and armchairs, with an entertainment center with a large screen TV on top of it. The walls were decorated with photos and art—some, Prompto recognized as Noctis' drawing style—and tons of little trinkets that screamed Weskham, Iris, Ignis, and Gladio's influences. It looked lived in, even though it hadn't been for a couple of months. There was a shutter in one of the walls, half open to reveal the darkened visage of a kitchen, and all Prompto could do was blink. Just outside the fringes of where the living room light touched, Prompto saw four doors in a hallway; presumably to the bedrooms and a bathroom. He'd look at those later, but for now, he just blinked and cast his eyes around at the living room again.

"Wow. Weskham's really okay with us staying here for the whole week?" Prompto asked, turning his head to look at Noctis, who had just now managed to get the trolley with their bags into the apartment and tug the door closed behind him.

Noctis nodded. "Yeah. Long as we don't burn the place down or anything," he chuckled softly.

That would definitely be a tragedy, Prompto realized as he looked around again. "It looks like it belongs in a home decoration magazine," he mused.

"I mean, Wesk and Iggy decked it out together. So," Noctis shrugged. "Wouldn't expect any less."

Yeah, Noctis definitely wasn't wrong about that. Most of the design choices probably weren't up to them, like the flooring and the walls, but the furniture all seemed to compliment the things that they hadn't had control over. Like the carpet. Ignis was really good with things like that, though, if the cabin he shared with Gladio was any indication. That place was nicely decorated, too, but the addition of Weskham's taste made this one a little bit better. It was easily the nicest apartment that Prompto had ever seen.

Noctis abandoned the trolley and the bags at the door, walking over to the couch and gingerly sitting down. He rested his head back against the head rest, before lolling his head to the side and looking lazily at Prompto. "Forgot how comfy this couch was," he muttered as he stretched his good arm up and over his head.

"Was that a subtle hint for me to sit down?" Prompto asked with a soft chuckle.

Shrugging innocently, Noctis replied, "maybe," with a coy smirk on his face.

Prompto took the hint, and made his way over to the couch, lowering himself gently onto it and allowing his body to relax. Breathing a contented sigh, he turned his head lazily toward Noctis and smirked. "Well, if it _was_ a hint, then thanks. 'Cause you're definitely not wrong."

As Prompto relaxed, his eyes turned toward the window, at the darkening sky. The sun was setting, and the daemon lights started to light up the city streets. Altissia was pretty generous with them. Lots of people called it 'the _new_ city that never sleeps,' ever since the fall of Insomnia. It was one of the few places where it was safe to be out and about at any hour of the night. The plan was to go out and see the city, but honestly, they had a week to do that, and Prompto was exhausted. Still, if Noctis wanted to go out... he'd suck it up and go.

Almost as if he'd read Prompto's mind, though, Noctis shrugged his head and smiled weakly. "Hey. Would you be mad if I wanted to just order a pizza and chill here tonight? Didn't realize until I sat down, but I'm tired and I-"

"No. Not even a little bit," Prompto shook his head. "I didn't realize it either, but I'm... really tired."

Chuckling, Noctis grinned. "You're the best, Prom," he insisted, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Why don't you flip channels or something, settle on a movie to watch?" He gestured to where the remote sat on the coffee table in front of them, then started scrolling through his phone, looking for a pizza place.

Admittedly, Prompto watched Noctis for a couple of seconds too long. The angles of his face, the pout of his lips as they rested in a casual expression. It would have been the perfect time for Prompto to lift his camera and take a picture, if he wasn't such a coward. As it stood, though, he just stared. Prompto was the best? No. Noctis was the best. For bringing him there to begin with. For always being there for him. For... existing. Just for existing, and being in Prompto's life.

Noctis' eyes turned first, catching Prompto's. His whole head followed, and his lips quirked into a grin. "What?"

"N-nothing..." Prompto murmured, before reaching to the coffee table for the remote. "Sorry. Just tired. Lazy and distracted. Y'know?" A lie. A bold faced lie. But it was what it was.

With a soft chuckle, Noctis nodded and turned back to his phone. "I know what you mean," he murmured, going back to his phone.

At first, Prompto just laughed at himself, amazed that his lie had actually worked. Finally, he started idly flicking through channels, trying to settle on a movie or a show for them to watch. Every now and then, though, he found his eyes wandering back to Noctis as he placed their pizza order. A whole week alone together. Maybe this was Prompto's chance. He had a whole week to be brave enough to tell Noctis how he felt. Despite how anxious he was about it, he couldn't see Noctis being anything but amazing about the fact that he probably didn't feel the same. Yeah. Yeah, he could do it. All he had to do was wait for the right moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw yeah, coming right in with those Promptis feels. ;D
> 
> HERE WE ARE AGAIN, MY FRIENDS!
> 
> I'm not exactly sure what to put here, I just wanted to thank all of you once again for your immense, insane, unexpected support when it came to In The Dark I See. Without you guys, I probably would've given up on it months ago, but here we are, rolling into part two!
> 
> I'm not sure if this series is going to have two or three parts, but at the moment, I'm leaning more toward three. There's so much I want to do, but I think that if I tried to put it all into one fic, it would end up being really, really cramped, or really, really long. So, to avoid both of those things, I'm _pretty_ sure I'm going to separate it into three parts!
> 
> Buckle in, friendos! I think, at the very least, two-four chapters will be taking place in Altissia, with the boys on their vacation!


	2. Normal

Noctis could confidently say that his attachment to Prompto was probably a little bit less than healthy. Especially since their decision the night prior to try sleeping in separate rooms had resulted in Noctis having an _extremely_ hard time getting to sleep. The fact that the apartment had three bedrooms, though, gave Prompto the chance to have a king-sized bed all to himself. Weskham's room, as well as the room that Gladio and Ignis had shared, had king sized beds. Iris' bed was a queen-sized. Noctis had taken Weskham's room, and Prompto took Ignis and Gladio's room.

He regretted it immediately, when he rolled over, expecting to be face to face with Prompto. Instead, he saw nothing but the cotton pillow case on the other side of Weskham's bed.

By the time Hour Twenty-Five came and went—an hour and thirteen minutes that night, which was a major part of the reason he had such a hard time falling asleep—Noctis realized that they'd made a mistake. Or, at least _he'd_ made a mistake. He didn't get up, didn't walk into Prompto's room and ask to share a bed, just on the off chance that Prompto was getting better sleep than Noctis had.

It was about three in the morning when he finally managed to blink off into sleep. Less than ideal, since Prompto's eye appointment was at nine in the morning, but it wasn't the least sleep he'd functioned on. He'd probably eventually have to cope with less, too, so he was fine.

When his alarm went off at six thirty, he was immediately tempted to throw his phone against the wall. Honestly, the urge to throw his phone against the wall was something that he felt most mornings, so it wasn't really an unfamiliar feeling. As he picked his phone up to check it, though, he sighed a heavy sigh at the alert he'd set to remind him of Prompto's appointment. That, he decided, plus all of the things that he and Prompto were going to do that day—the trip to the gallery, to lunch at the bistro that Ignis and Weskham had recommended, and then to Delisle Street—were enough to motivate him to get out of bed. So, he did just that.

If Noctis had to take a guess, he figured that he probably looked like some kind of cartoon character, walking through the halls of Weskham's apartment to get to the kitchen. His movements were lazy; sluggish and dragging, as he made his way down the hallway, but he perked a little bit when the scent of freshly made coffee hit his nostrils. Prompto was already awake.

Noctis' steps picked up then, and he found himself slightly more eager to face the day, knowing that Prompto was there waiting for him. In his just-awake mind, he wondered if this was what normal people felt like; waking up and walking down the hall, knowing that they were going to see the person they loved every morning; feeling that surge of happiness, knowing that they were waiting at the end of a hallway or behind a door. It was a bittersweet feeling, honestly. It was normal, but the life they lived _wasn't_ normal, so it was more of a tease. A taunt, showing him what normal could really be, but holding it outside of his reach.

That thought had Noctis' smile wilting as he continued down the hall. As glad as he was to have Prompto in his life, there was a bit of regret there. He'd dragged Prompto into this life; into this world of chaos and instability. Yeah, he knew that Prompto liked helping; feeling useful, and being able to hunt more, but at least back in Hammerhead, his life could have been normal. He'd have found his way away from his dad eventually, in a safer way, but now his life was at risk every night.

His mind continued to taunt him as he turned the corner into the kitchen, but just as quickly as the taunts started, they drained away at the sight of Prompto in front of him, all chocobo pajamas and disheveled morning hair. His best friend stood, his back facing Noctis and his crutches leaning against the counter a couple of feet away from him. On the coffee table in the living room sat two plates of cold pizza—Noctis had told him the night before that he preferred leftover pizza cold to hot—and Prompto was preparing coffee in Ignis' state of the art coffee machine. Normal. Normal looked really good on him.

But he'd never really have it.  All because of Hour Twenty-Five.

"G'morning, Prom," Noctis greeted from where he stood in the doorway.

Prompto jumped just slightly, losing his balance where he stood on one foot and quickly grabbing hold of the counter to steady himself. "Ah!" he gasped. "N-Noct!" He huffed out a slow breath, before letting a smile turn his lips upward when he spotted Noctis. "Um... g-g'morning. I was gonna come wake you up when I finished making coffee. Sorry..."

Shaking his head, Noctis smiled. "Don't apologize. I was the one who scared you."

It always seemed like Prompto felt like he needed to apologize for everything. Almost definitely something Verstael had drilled into his brain. A flash of anger boiled in the pit of Noctis' stomach at the thought of Prompto's father, but he pushed it aside in favor of shrugging the whole thing off and glancing over at the coffee table.

"Besides," Noctis continued, "the one who makes the breakfast never has to apologize. I think that's like… number one or two in the Ignis Scientia rule book." He smirked.

Prompto laughed softly as he turned back around to pour the coffee into their cups. "I mean, I put cold pizza on a plate and then put some coffee in the machine. Not really the same as making, like… three-course breakfasts like Ignis and Weskham do," he pointed out, pouring some coffee into a second cup.

Smirking, Noctis shrugged and closed the distance between himself and Prompto, sidling up to stand at his side and taking each coffee cup in one hand. Admittedly, moving the fingers attached to his still-healing arm hurt more than he expected, but beyond a wince—and a shake of his head to stop Prompto from taking the coffee cup from his hand—he didn't let it show. "Rule number one in the Noctis Lucis Caelum playbook: if you put it together and it's edible? You made breakfast. Take credit for it," he winked.

"I don't know what I did to earn all these playbook tips," Prompto spoke through a smile as he picked up his crutches and followed behind Noctis to get to the dining room, "but I think it means I'm pretty lucky?"

Noctis laughed softly. "Damn right," he mused as he set the coffee cups down and then gently lowered himself to sit on the couch. "'Specially mine. I don't tell my tips and tricks to just anyone." The sadness and worry that he'd been feeling on his way down the hall were both completely forgotten now. A thousand miles away. It was funny how just being around Prompto had that effect on him.

Especially when Prompto smiled like that, and made his heart stutter a little bit in his chest. Noctis was fully aware of his feelings. Every now and then, he found himself thinking back to what Gentiana said about looking to his light, and the more time he and Prompto spent together, the more he realized that his gut instinct was right: Prompto was that light. It was everyone, really. He didn't want to make it seem like no one else was as important as Prompto, but Prompto was different. Special. His person.

Prompto grinned, reaching forward to grab his coffee and taking a slow sip. Honestly, that was where Noctis wanted to start, too. He reached forward, grabbing his coffee, and taking a long, slow sip. Then, he smiled. Extra powdered creamer, three tablespoons of sugar. Just the way he liked it. He honestly shouldn't have been surprised. Prompto always seemed to remember things like that. Simple things, that probably weren't that big of a deal to most people. How Noctis took his coffee, what he liked on his pizza, what kind of music put him in a better mood when he was having a bad day...

"So, after my appointment, what're we doing today?" Prompto asked, exchanging his coffee cup for his plate, and taking a bite from his pizza.

Noctis smiled. Prompto was comfortable enough not to feel like he needed to ask permission to eat. It was a small detail, but it made Noctis happy all the same. "I could tell you," he started, smirking mischievously, "or I could wait and surprise you. Hm, which one am I gonna pick?"

Through a mouthful of pizza—another thing showing that Prompto was getting comfortable, because before, he'd never have dreamed of talking with a mouthful of food or doing anything that his dad hadn't drilled into his head—Prompto laughed. "Part of me totally wants to beg you," he admitted. "The rest of me is like, 'if he wants it to be a secret, he's gotta have a reason.'" He smirked.

"Least you didn't resort to the method I would've, and try and start a tickle war," Noctis replied with a chuckle, before taking another giant bite of his pizza.

Prompto stopped abruptly, his eyes shooting wide open as he almost dropped his pizza from his hand. "N-no. I... no. I wouldn't do that. I mean... w-we're both still sore. Right?" He looked away from Noctis, back down at the slice of pizza in his hands. When Noctis dared himself to look, there was a deep dusting of red on Prompto's cheeks.

With an awkward laugh, Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I... I mean, obviously I wouldn't do it right now either. I just... I was joking. Sorry. It was dumb," he chuckled awkwardly, biting a little too hard on his lip to keep himself from talking too much more.

"I-it's okay," Prompto's voice was a little too quiet, and he busied himself with taking a drink from his coffee mug, instead of continuing that line of conversation.

Awkward. Noctis had ruined the whole mood; the whole morning. Classic. Things were silent for a little bit too long after that. Through the whole rest of the meal, the only sound was the TV, when Noctis finally got tired of the awkward silence and turned it on. Some music video countdown or something, but Noctis wasn't really paying too much attention. Every now and then, his eyes would cast toward Prompto, and he was barely able to hold back another apology. For someone who told Prompto not to apologize all the time, he was way too willing to throw his own advice into the trash can.

With his pizza eaten down to the crust, and all of his coffee gone, Noctis finally broke the silence, glancing over to Prompto with a nervous smile on his face. "Have you showered yet?" he asked, pointing over his shoulder to the hallway.

Prompto shook his head. "N-no, I was gonna, um... let you go first. I figured you-"

Noctis shook his head no. "Don't have to. We both can at the same time," he explained.

"What...?" Prompto breathed.

As soon as he saw the expression on Prompto's face, he realized exactly what he'd said and why it probably needed five times more explanation than he'd given. Prompto looked completely dumbstruck. His eyes were open as wide as Noctis had ever seen them before. His jaw was slightly agape, like he was trying to come up with something to say but couldn't, and now, the dusting of red that covered his cheeks wasn't subtle in the slightest. It was okay, though. Noctis could feel the heat in his own cheeks, too. Had he _really_ just said it like that? Had he _really_ just accidentally implied that they take a shower together?

Not that it would be the worst thing in the world, but it wasn't what he meant at all.

Noctis shook his head vehemently. "N-no! No, I... I meant... there's two bathrooms! There's one in Weskham's room, and one at the end of the hall! I didn't mean... I..." He stammered, worse than Prompto's could be at its worst, and looked at the floor, the wall, _anywhere_ but at Prompto's face.

"Oh." At first, that was all Prompto said. The silence was thick and heavy, like a giant, weighty comforter thrown over the room. Normally Noctis _liked_ weighty blankets. but in this case? Not in the slightest.

Stupid. He'd made a stupid mistake, and now Prompto wasn't even looking at him and he wasn't even looking at Prompto. Pulling in a heavy breath, he nodded. "Y-yeah. So… I'll take Weskham's shower, since my cast wraps are in there. And you can take the bigger bathroom. Alright? There's enough hot water to cover both of us," he nodded. He still wasn't meeting Prompto's eye at all.

Silence was his only answer at first, and he finally looked up in response to it, to see Prompto nodding his head. He looked up too, meeting Noctis' eye finally, and nodding again. "Okay. Thanks," he muttered, smiling an embarrassed smile.

Noctis nodded once, before standing from the couch. "I'm gonna, um… go get started wrapping my cast. Okay? Your bathroom's the last door on the right. S-so… meet you out here when we're done, to go get you some new glasses!" Nonchalance. Play it cool. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Right?

Well, if that was the case, then why was he turning on his heel before Prompto had a chance to answer and practically _running_ down the hall to get to Weskham's room? As soon as the door closed behind him, he leaned back against it and ran his good hand down his face. His head leaned back against the door, and he stared at the ceiling in frustration. Had he _really_ said it like that? His whole face burned with embarrassment. Maybe he'd apologize later. Maybe, if Prompto remembered it, Noctis would apologize. If not, though? If not, well... he'd let it go. Pretend it never happened. And for now, that meant getting into the shower, and hoping that Prompto forgot by the time they finished.

It probably would have been about a thousand times easier if he hadn't spent the whole shower wondering what it would have felt like if he _hadn't_ backpedaled, though. And if Prompto had agreed. It took him a little longer to finish showering, solely because he needed to calm himself down a little bit. He stayed in the water until it ran cold, and it _still_ didn't fully succeed in calming him completely. It was enough though. At least for the time being.

Once he was dried off, he dressed as quickly as he could. It still wasn't easy after the injury, not really, but he managed to do it far quicker than he'd been able to before that day, so he counted it as a win. He styled his hair, the same comfortable chaos that it was always in, and then looked his reflection dead in the eye.

"It's Prompto," he told himself. "If he hasn't called you out on it? Then he's not gonna. Right? And even if he does, it's not a bad idea. Maybe then you can..." Maybe then he could be less of a coward.

Noctis shook his head hard, dispelling that thought. They had somewhere to be. Now wasn't the time for a heartfelt talk about feelings. Especially when they had somewhere to be very, very shortly. With that in mind, he pulled in a sharp breath—agitating his aching ribs just a little bit—exhaled it, and then exited the bathroom. He could hear movement in the living room, signifying that Prompto was probably done with his shower at this point. Glancing at his watch, he realized that they had about forty-five minutes to get across town to the eye doctor's office. It was enough time, as long as they didn't get stuck with a slow gondolier.

Huffing a laugh to himself as he walked down the hall, Noctis tried to distract his mind from any awkwardness his stupid flub might've caused. "Worse comes to worse, we can just swim," he mused to himself.

"Huh?" Prompto asked, from where he sat gingerly on the couch, trying awkwardly to tie the shoe on his injured leg. Sure, he was almost to the point that he didn't need crutches anymore, but for now, Noctis knew that he was still pretty sore. Which more than likely meant that things like tying shoes or putting pressure on his leg for more than a couple of seconds hurt like hell.

With a shake of his head, Noctis shrugged. "Just... kinda hoping we don't get a slow gondolier," he murmured, as he watched Prompto struggle to tie his shoe and wished that he could do more. One usable hand pretty much limited his shoe options to the couple pairs of slip-on boots that he had.

The gentle smile on Prompto's face made the embarrassment slip out of Noctis' mind. Honestly, Noctis wasn't sure why he expected Prompto, of all people, to embarrass him about his stupid slip up. Prompto had anxieties of his own. He'd never make _anyone_ feel stupid about theirs. Of course, that didn't change the fact that Noctis had spent his whole shower thinking about what it would have been like if Prompto was there _with_ him, but as long as he didn't say anything about that—which he never would, no matter what—then Prompto would never know. So, it was no big deal. It would be okay.

Prompto pushed himself up from the couch, grabbing his crutches and making his way over to Noctis. "Slow gondoliers are a problem? They don't have like... a set speed limit or something?"

Sliding his feet into his boots, he turned to Prompto and shrugged. "Dunno. All I know is that they always seem to pick the worst times to be slow." He chuckled awkwardly. After patting his pockets to make sure he had the keys, he turned to Prompto and smiled. "Ready?" he asked.

The little glint in Prompto's eye didn't escape Noctis' attention. "To get new glasses and actually be able to _see_ Altissia without a blur in my face? Yeah. Definitely," he answered, smirking a gentle quirk of a smirk.

And with that, they were off. All of the awkwardness was gone, and they were walking through Altissia, talking and laughing together like they'd been doing the day before. Prompto snapped pictures of everything they passed by, Noctis told stories about everything that he had stories to share about, and it was almost like none of what happened moments ago had actually taken place. A couple of times, Noctis was pretty sure that they annoyed the gondolier with their storytelling and laughter, to the point that he wanted to jump from his own boat and into the canal, but they managed to make it the whole trip unscathed.

Aside from when Prompto almost fell from the boat on his way out, anyway. He hadn't, though, and they made it to the eye doctor's office right on time. Temporarily, they parted at the door, while Noctis wandered over to a bait shop a couple of blocks away, to get what he needed for their fishing trip later in the week. The one his dad always took him to. He texted the address to Prompto, just in case he ended up taking longer than Prompto took at the eye doctor. Noctis tended to do that at _any_ bait shop, but this one was especially bad. If Noctis' memory served him correctly, this was the only place in all of Eos that had the Moogle lure that the fish around this area liked.

Part of Noctis wondered if old Navyth still ran the place. He knew that the man said that he _used_ to like traveling the world to see what fish he could catch, but he _also_ knew that the man crystallized. So, sad as the thought was, it was entirely possible that he wasn't around. No. No, he didn't want to let that worry—the worry about something that might not have even been _true_ , even—ruin what was supposed to be the real start of his week away with Prompto.

Even despite that, the fact that the man still stood behind the counter, charming people with one of the stories that had Noctis hanging on his every word as a kid, was a relief. Even now, as an adult, he smiled at the way the man talked about _almost_ catching the Liege of the Lake. Coming close, but falling short. Noctis remembered fondly how, as a kid, he'd sworn to Navyth that _he_ would be the one to land that monster fish. Astrals, how long had it been since he'd been back to the Vesperpool now? Well, a few months ago, he'd taken a hunt there with Crowe. But for fishing? It had been years. Damn near three years.

And with that story fresh in his mind, maybe he got a little bit carried away, catching up with his old fishing friend.

Because of that—because of the conversation he had with Navyth about tips for fishing with a broken arm, and about what lure he recommended for Noctis to catch a Cygilian sea bass for Prompto—Noctis was pretty sure that he was running late. It was almost guaranteed that Prompto was already out of his eye doctor appointment and on his way to the bait shop. When they met up, he'd have to apologize. Prompto probably wouldn't be mad, though. He was never mad. For some reason, he never seemed to hold onto anger when it came to Noctis. The thought made him smile as he waved a quick goodbye to Navyth—and promised that he'd be back at least one more time before he left Altissia—and started the walk back to the eye doctor's office.

He only made it a block before he was knocked on his ass. Figuratively, anyway.

A new pair of glasses shouldn't have been that much of a change, and maybe it wasn't. Prompto still had the same body, pale and freckled, lithe and dressed in the same striped green tank and red jeans as he crutched his way toward Noctis. The only real difference was his glasses. The black, rounded-rectangle frames suited his face a lot better than the old rimless pair he'd been wearing. That wasn't what Noctis was noticing, though. Behind those glasses? _That_ was what caught Noctis' attention. The happiness on Prompto's face seemed to radiate from him in waves. He picked his pace up on his crutches, moving toward Noctis twice as quickly. He almost tripped twice, little bumps in the Altissia cobblestone catching his crutches and almost sending him to the ground, but he caught himself, resuming at the exact same speed to get to Noctis quicker.

"Easy, Prom," Noctis laughed, reaching a hand to Prompto and placing it on his arm. It was hard to be too serious, though, when he locked gazes with the most unbelievable blue eyes he'd ever seen. "Don't wanna hurt yourself more, right?"

Prompto laughed and shrugged his good shoulder. "Well, no. But I'm excited. What... what d'you think?" he asked lifting his chin and turning his head toward the sunlight.

If he was trying to give Noctis a better look at his face, it wasn't necessary. Noctis could see his face perfectly. The perfection of his expression when he was happy floored Noctis completely. If what he was trying to do was make the sunlight hit his freckles in a way that stole the breath right out from Noctis' lungs, and made him feel like he had to lean against a nearby pillar to keep from falling flat? If _that_ was his goal? Mission accomplished and then some. He'd heard the phrase breathtaking beauty before. Most of the time, the only way Noctis thought that there was any legitimacy to it was when it involved sunsets or starry nights.

Maybe it should have surprised him that Prompto was added to that mix now. It should have, but it didn't.

Prompto looked at him expectantly, and it was only then that Noctis realized that he hadn't answered the question yet. He didn't speak up in time, though, and Prompto turned his head again, raking his teeth over his lower lip. "Do they look dumb?" he asked. "I was torn between this pair and a pair of cats eye frames like my old ones but-"

"No. No, they... they don't look dumb." Noctis shook his head and smiled a bashful and self-deprecating smile. Of course Prompto would think his temporary lack of an answer meant that he didn't think the new glasses looked good. "They don't. You look great. Like, really great." He nodded. The hand not in the cast formed a thumbs up, and he nodded his head.

Nonchalance. Play it cool. Act like Prompto _hadn't_ just literally taken his breath away.

The smile came back to Prompto's face, and then the excitement followed quickly. "Can you believe that Ignis called beforehand and paid for these? I thought I was gonna have to do it, but... he was like 'oh, they're prepaid,' and I thought you did it. But he said Ignis did it right after you made the appointment, and... I gotta call him and thank him!" He moved to reach for his phone in his pocket.

But Noctis stopped him. "Later," he insisted. "You and me have a whole day planned. Aren't you hungry?"

Prompto stopped abruptly and turned his attention back to Noctis in surprise, then thought to himself for a couple of seconds. "I guess kinda," he admitted.

"C'mon. You can call Specs when we get home tonight. He won't be mad."

The smile that crossed Prompto's face was even happier than the one he'd been wearing before. Excitement mixed in with the happiness and confidence that he seemed to be feeling, and it was in that moment that Noctis realized that this vacation was far and away the best idea they'd ever had. As the pair of them started toward the bistro, he cast another look in Prompto's direction, and it was then that he decided.

If the moment presented itself? If everything was right? He'd tell Prompto everything. He'd let Prompto know that he was head over heels, completely and hopelessly in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of them Promptis feels, friends. I promise, we'll get back to the action and mystery stuff eventually. I know that some of you were really looking forward to the Promptis stuff in this vacation, though!
> 
> ♥♥♥ Thanks for reading, friends!


	3. Kindness

No matter how much Prompto insisted that he could help Noctis pay for things, Noctis didn't let him. During their second shopping trip on the third night of their vacation, Noctis had bought everything. In one trip to Delisle Street, Noctis bought Prompto more clothes than he had ever had at once. Everything from sweatshirts to sneakers, winter and summer clothes, all the things that Prompto always _wondered_ if he would look good wearing, but could never afford. And now, he had most of them. It was to the point that he'd needed to buy an extra suitcase, just for the new things Noctis had bought for him. He'd never have been able to fit everything into the two he'd used on the way here.

As far as purchases for himself, Noctis only bought a black tank top, a pair of band t-shirts, a pair of jeans, and another pair of slip on boots. Less than a quarter of what he bought for Prompto. No fewer than ten times, Prompto told him that he didn't have to do it; that he didn't need to spend so much on clothes, but each time, Noctis stopped him and told him that it was okay. That it was his way of making up for all the things that Prompto's dad had done.

That wasn't Noctis' job; that wasn't his responsibility. It wasn't like Prompto was broke anymore. The money from the hunts they took together was way, way more than he was used to ever having. So, it wasn't like Prompto couldn't pay his own way, either. But Noctis still insisted. He wanted to, he said. And it really just made Prompto love him all the more. It made him feel guilty as _hell_ , and like he was taking advantage of Noctis' friendship, but still made him love Noctis even more. The only solace, the only thing that made him feel like he and Noctis were _kind_ of on an even playing field, was the fact that he'd managed to sneak away and buy something for Noctis in return. While Noctis was talking to one of the store clerks; an old friend of his from when the group came here frequently, Prompto snuck across the street to an art supply store.

When he spotted the sketchbook—made from spiracorn leather, dyed black, with a silver and sapphire clasp—he knew. It reminded him just enough of the silver box that Noctis' dad had left behind. Gathering the sketchbook, as well as a large box of charcoal pencils and normal colored pencils, Prompto hurried to the counter, in hopes that he could make it out of the store before Noctis caught him.

Fortunately, he just barely managed to. The art supplies were hidden among Prompto's new clothes in one of his bags, to be given to Noctis later. For now, though, he smiled at his best friend and waved his good arm in greeting.

Noctis jogged up to him from the last of the clothing stores they'd been to that day, and breathed a laugh. "Sorry. It'd been a long time since I'd seen Mira—Mira's the clerk back there—and she had a lot to talk about. Family, kids... I went to introduce her to you but when I turned to you, you were gone. Tired of all the shopping or something?" His tone was gentle, and his lips were quirked into a smile.

At first, Prompto wanted to say no, because honestly, despite feeling that he owed Noctis way more than he'd ever be able to repay, he'd had a lot of fun that day. Of course, that would mean that Noctis would ask again. Prompto was really bad at lying, but he'd try. This time, he had a reason. "No. Um... no. I, um... I just needed some air, you know? They didn't have the air conditioner in there, I don't think."

It was a fifty-fifty shot. Either he was right and there was no air conditioner in the store, or he was way off base and Noctis would know that he was up to something. It seemed like Noctis _had_ caught on, but he didn't say anything. He simply gave Prompto an odd look, and then nodded once. So, maybe it was a combination of the two. He was suspicious, but Prompto was in the clear. A tiny part of him wanted to try his luck and see if he could sneak away to get some wrapping paper. This was a way better present than the stupid set of lures and the tackle box that he'd gotten Noctis for his birthday last month.

So, that was what he did. Pulling in a slow and steadying breath, which probably looked a little bit suspicious, too, Prompto met Noctis' eyes and tried to look confident. "Hey, do... do you think we could meet at the pier in about half an hour? You have to go back to get your pole and stuff anyway, right? There's, um... there's one more stop I want to make, and-"

"Well, I can come, too. Maybe I can help you carry-"

Prompto shook his head vehemently. "N-no! No. I can do it," he insisted. "I, um... it won't take me that long, and then we can get to the pier that much faster and get fishing. I wanna see the master in action!" And that was when Prompto realized just how _bad_ he was at playing it cool. Not that he was really _surprised_ about that, but the tiniest piece of him wished that he had _any_ semblance of skill at it.

It didn't really seem to matter, though. Noctis glanced down to the ground for a couple of seconds, then looked back up at Prompto, and nodded a single nod. "Okay," he answered. His tone was a little bit different, sad, maybe.

Honestly, it almost made him change his mind. Anything that made Noctis feel sad like that was not something that Prompto wanted to be a part of. He reminded himself that it was _for_ Noctis, though, and that it would be okay. When he managed to get everything together and give the gifts to Noctis to begin with, Noctis would know why. With a smile of reassurance, he met Noctis' eye and nodded his head. Then, the pair of them split off and Prompto headed over to a small drug store on the corner, two blocks away. Drug stores usually had wrapping paper, didn't they? If not, he reasoned, someone would be able to tell him where to find some.

Admittedly, it was a little bit more intimidating, crutching around Altissia without Noctis at his side. Maybe, he realized, he'd grown a little bit too attached to having Noctis with him all the time. It was different from walking around places like Lestallum or Galdin Quay. Those were cities by Lucian standards—at least since Insomnia fell—but more people walked the streets here than in either of those places on their best days. Still, he navigated the streets as best he could, and he even managed to get through the conversation with the clerk at the drug store without _too_ much stammering. Once he explained his situation, she offered to let him use the drug store's break room to wrap Noctis' gifts once he picked and paid for the right wrapping stuff.

That turned out to be a sleek black gift bag with silver string. It was big enough to fit the sketch pad and the colored pencils, but he'd ended up needing to wrap the charcoal pencils separately. Those went in matching black wrapping paper, with a matching silver tie around it. Honestly, Prompto was hardly a professional at wrapping gifts, but he'd ended up doing okay. It wasn't perfect, but it was as close as it was going to get. With a genuine and heartfelt thank you to the clerk—a kind middle-aged woman, who claimed that Prompto reminded her of her son—he secured the gifts back in the bag with his clothing and left the store once again to meet Noctis at the pier. Maybe he'd give the gifts while they were there. He was feeling good enough.

The sun beat down on his face, bringing his smile ever-wider as he got closer and closer to the pier, but just as quickly as his mood had lifted, it changed to one of concern when he spotted Noctis, talking to someone unfamiliar. The other man was tall and handsome; classically handsome, with unkempt, curly brown hair and gray-green eyes. He wasn't anywhere near as good looking as Noctis, but he definitely put Prompto to shame. Jealousy flared up, as well as disappointment in the fact that Noctis seemed to _know_ this guy.

He didn't look _happy_ to see whoever it was, though. That, more than anything, was what spurred Prompto to continue his approach.

It said a lot that Prompto was getting closer and closer, and neither Noctis, nor the other guy—whoever he was—had noticed him. However, the closer he got, the more he realized that whatever exchange the two were having wasn't a pleasant one. Noctis looked miserable, a little bit sad as he looked at this stranger, and as he got within earshot, he heard a deep and throaty chuckle coming from the other guy's mouth.

"No crew of white knights here to cover for you this time, huh, Caelum?" the guy murmured, his head high as he crossed his arms at his chest. "Not so tough without the dye in my body wash or the Nair in my shampoo or whatever else your crew of idiots did. Where's daddy? Is he gonna come around the corner and-"

Noctis' eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the guy. "Shut _up_ , Pietas."

The other guy—Pietas, Noctis had said—tilted his head to the side in mock-thought. "Aw, what's the matter? Strike a nerve? You know all your friends put me through hell, right? All those pranks and then your dad went to my _parents_? As if dying me pink and removing my hair wasn't enough, you had to get my parents involved? What was the big deal? All it was was a little bit of fun. You didn't _honestly_ think it was more than that, did you?" he asked.

"It was two years ago, Pietas. Let it go."

Pietas chuckled again. "Easy for you to say. For weeks after your buddies did whatever they did, I was humiliated. Laughed at while I waited for the dye to fade and for my hair to grow back. My folks got all 'we didn't raise you to treat people like that,' or whatever, and I had to listen to _that_ for a couple weeks. And all you have to say is _let it go_?" he snapped, glaring at Noctis like he wanted nothing more than to hit him. But he didn't. Probably because he was sure, despite their height difference, that Noctis could pretty much level him without even trying.

It was obvious that there was some history here, and whatever that history was, it wasn't good. It was making Noctis _really_ uncomfortable, that much was definitely for sure. Prompto was curious, and that was the only thing that kept him silent. He probably already should have been jumping in, stopping this guy, whoever he was, from making Noctis feel worse than he already did. But he didn't. Instead, he pressed his back to a nearby pillar and listened. Eavesdropping was... probably not the nicest thing he could have done. He couldn't help it, though.

"In case you forgot," Noctis huffed, "you're the one who instigated everything. You know what you did."

Pietas' laughter was a low rumble. "You were begging me for it, Caelum." A couple of seconds of silence followed. "Or did you forget? Couple of hours at the festival, I tell you how nice your hair looks, and boom. You're on your tip toes trying to kiss me. So yeah. I capitalized on it. Can't blame me for that, can you?"

"You _ignored_ me," Noctis seethed. "You promised me that we could hang out, to get me to let you _fuck_ me, and then-"

Prompto's eyes narrowed. No wonder Noctis looked so uncomfortable. A part of him was surprised that he hadn't heard anything about this, but at the same time, they'd never really talked about anything like sex or romance or _anything_ like that. Prompto usually made a pretty strong point to avoid talking about it, for the obvious reason that any conversation about that would _probably_ lead them to talking about Prompto's feelings. Without knowing about _Noctis'_ feelings, he really didn't want to put himself on the spot like that. So, no. He guessed he wasn't surprised that he didn't know about this.

"I didn't promise you anything. I told you that _maybe_ we could hang before you had to go back to whatever fucking rock you crawled under. No promises there. You're the one who thought it was more than it was."

It seemed like Noctis didn't have a retort to that.

Pietas just chuckled. "And you accused me of not being able to let go," he murmured.

"I have," Noctis answered, his voice confident. "I'm on my way to meet with someone, actually. And I really don't want you to be here when they get here."

A disbelieving huff of laughter was Pietas' initial response. "You expect me to believe that?" he asked. "Let's wait together, then. Which one is it? The brunette? Captain Mullet and his blonde bimbo? Or is it the hot one with the tattoos? The other hot one with the glasses?" he asked. "I should've went for one of them, instead." As Prompto peered around the pillar, he saw Pietas shaking his head and chuckling again.

Unfortunately, it was that moment when Noctis caught sight of him where he peered around the pillar. His eyes trained in on Prompto, and a part of him looked like he wanted to plead with Prompto to leave. That bit of eye contact was enough, though, and even though Prompto still whirled back around and tried to get out of sight, Pietas turned, more than likely catching Prompto before he made it back into hiding.

Prompto swallowed thickly from where he leaned against the pillar, and listened to a pair of deliberate footsteps; taunting Prompto—and probably Noctis, too—with how slow they were. Prompto could hear each mockingly slow footstep, as they got closer. Finally, the other guy appeared around the side of the pillar and looked Prompto over, sounding off a derisive snort. Honestly, after only a couple of seconds in his presence, Prompto wanted to shrink away. And he couldn't even be relieved when Pietas' attention went back to Noctis.

"This who you were waiting for?" Pietas asked, pointing at Prompto with his thumb.

Noctis just glared, not answering with words. "Shut up, Pietas. H-hey Prom. Sorry you have to see this."

The grin on Pietas' face curled up a little higher, and he turned his attention back to Prompto. "Yeah, _Prom_. Sorry you have to see Caelum actually having to _face_ his past, rather than just fucking back off to where-the-hell-ever after ruining someone's life," he crossed his arms at his chest. Even though he was supposedly talking to Prompto, he was still glaring at Noctis.

"Th-" Prompto started, but then he balked for a second, before starting up again. "That's n-not what it sounded like to... to me. And it's Prompto. N-not Prom."

His stutter. His stupid, humiliating stutter was back in full force. Prompto winced against his volition. It was a show of weakness, kind of, but he couldn't help it. Something about this guy, though, was terrifying to Prompto. Noctis probably wouldn't let him do anything, and it wasn't like Prompto was completely helpless, but Prompto could tell—he could just tell—that this was the kind of person who would make fun of him.

Unfortunately, he was proven right. "Oh, I'm s-s-s-sorry," Pietas mimicked. "But how was I supposed to know? Caelum never introduced us." A dramatic and mocking pout crossed his face as he turned to look at Prompto.

Noctis stepped forward, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey. Don't make fun of him," he snapped. "Whatever happened is between you and me. Leave him-"

"I wasn't aware I needed your permission to talk to someone, Caelum. What, you his boyfriend or something?"

Prompto completely froze. Admittedly, he was glad—really glad—that he couldn't see Noctis' face right now. That Noctis couldn't see _his_ face right now. He was pretty sure that everything—from his nose to his cheeks to his ears—was red, publishing his inability to answer that question all over his face. He could have answered. He probably _should_ have clarified that no, they weren't a couple. As much as he should have, though, he really didn't want to. What was more surprising was the fact that _Noctis_ wasn't speaking up either, wasn't clarifying their status to this guy who seemed to want to make him feel miserable. It should have been easy for him, right? All he had to do was say 'no.' One word, two letters. But he wasn't.

It seemed like Pietas was opening up to speak, so Prompto swallowed his anxiety, maneuvered on his crutches until he was beside Noctis, and said, "n-no. I'm his best friend, though. And... and... and..." And what? He'd stepped up with no plan for what to say from there. He just wanted to keep this guy from making Noctis feel any worse than he already had. If that meant becoming an emotional punching bag himself? Well, that was okay. He could handle it.

Or, at least he thought he could. Pietas' snort of laughter had him balking again. " _And... and... and..._ you have absolutely nothing to say. Because you know I'm doing absolutely nothing wrong here. Right?"

"Leave him out of this," Noctis snapped. "And stop making fun of him. I'm serious. Or I'll make what the others did seem tame." He stepped forward again, placing himself between Prompto and Pietas.

Pietas laughed. "What're you gonna do with one broken arm? You make one move toward me, I'll knock you on the floor so fast you'll be crying to daddy again in no time," he taunted. Whether he knew the situation with Noctis' dad or not was irrelevant. Noctis reacted, and he caught onto it. It wasn't an obvious reaction, just a flinch, a little recoil at the mention of his father, but both Pietas _and_ Prompto saw it.

Ignoring the quirked smirk on Pietas' face, Prompto reached a hand out and placed it on Noctis' arm. "Noct, it's-"

Before he could continue, though, before he could finish reassuring Noctis that it was okay, and before he could suggest that they just leave, Pietas spoke up again. "You shouldn't bother with him, honestly. Tell you what. Why don't you just ditch him and come back to my place, hm? Got a whole apartment to myself, and you can avoid whatever drama him and all his pathetic friends bring-"

Honestly, Prompto wasn't sure what possessed him. Actually, that was a lie. He was _completely_ sure what came over him. It started as a bubbling boil in the pit of his gut. A flash of protective anger that most people showed _to_ him, not saw _from_ him. The way Noctis deflated, though, when Pietas mentioned his father, resonated with Prompto. Of course he recoiled. His dad, despite having been gone for a year, was a sore spot that would probably never heal. Whether Pietas knew the story or not didn't matter. He'd hurt Noctis, and Noctis seemed too dumbstruck to defend himself right away.

So, Prompto did it for him. He crutched forward, past Noctis, and before he could talk himself out of it, he'd reached his right crutch out to catch behind Pietas' left ankle. In a sweeping motion, he pulled forward and knocked the larger man backward, to land flat on his ass on the ground. The soft snicker of laughter that came from Noctis was reward enough in and of itself. A huge smirk came to Prompto's face when he turned his head to catch Noctis' eye. The honest and pure gratitude that Noctis threw his way in that split second that they locked eyes was almost flooring.

Before either of them could say anything else, though, Pietas was slowly but surely picking himself up off the ground. He stood tall, all six feet of him towering over Prompto now, instead of Noctis, and baring down on them like he wanted to throw him into the ocean or something. It was then that Prompto realized that he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

It ended up not being an issue, though. Before he could make a move, Noctis balled up his uninjured hand, squeezed himself between Pietas and Prompto again, pulled back, and punched the larger man with all his strength. He shook his hand slightly in the aftermath, but then narrowed his eyes and looked up at Pietas.

"I'm serious, Saluber. Leave us alone. Leave him alone, leave me alone, leave _everyone I care about_ alone, because like I said, I'll make what the others did seem tame." Noctis' fist was still clenched, a silent threat to punch him again.

Saluber. Prompto blinked. Wasn't that the name of one of the people who lived on the first floor of the apartment complex they were staying in? It couldn't be, could it? That _couldn't_ be Pietas' apartment. Could it? Prompto watched as Pietas glared at Noctis, like he thought that maybe his glare would sear through Noctis' skin or something. Later. Prompto could ask him about that apartment later. When Pietas was gone. Just in case he didn't know.

The taller man's glare turned to Prompto now. "You two deserve each other. Losers of a feather fly together, or something. Whatever the phrase is." His hand was on his cheek, assessing the area that Noctis had punched.

Prompto was pretty sure that it was supposed to be insulting. He was pretty sure that Pietas had meant it to say that they'd always be miserable because they were both 'losers' and not good enough for anyone in the world. To Prompto, though, it _didn't_ mean that. Not at all. They deserved each other. While Prompto didn't necessarily feel like he deserved Noctis most of the time—his friendship, the right to feel like he did about them—hearing someone say it, even if they didn't mean it in the way Prompto wanted to hear it? It felt surprisingly... good.

Noctis, too, appeared to be grinning. "I think he meant that to insult us, Prom."

Insult _us_. So, Noctis felt the same way as he did about it. For a second, Prompto allowed himself to wonder if Noctis felt _exactly_ the same way as he did about it. "Y-yeah, probably," he replied, trying to sound confident in his words. "It didn't quite work. Did it?" It was both a sarcastic question to Pietas, and a genuine question to Noctis.

It didn't matter, though. Noctis didn't get a chance to answer. Pietas, in a huff, flipped them off with both hands and then grumbled to himself—something about hoping that they both died a miserable and painful death—as he stormed away, looking every bit the part of the huffy teenager. Wasn't he their age, at least? And he was still acting like that. Idiot.

In his absence, Prompto turned to Noctis now, watching the subtle change as his friend's expression went from confident and pleased, to sad, to miserable. "So, uh," Noctis started, his eyes on the ground. "I never got back to the apartment. If you couldn't tell. I made it what, one block? And he pretty much ambushed me. We... we can go now. If you want. To get the fishing stuff?"

It was just a guess, but if Prompto _had_ to make one, he suspected that Noctis didn't feel a whole lot like fishing. Prompto had seen the way he deflated when Pietas had mentioned his dad, and if memory served, fishing was something that Noctis used to _do_ with his dad. With that in mind, he shrugged his head to the side. "Or..." he started, adjusting the bag with his clothes and Noctis' gifts on his arm. "We could just go and sit on one of the piers for a little while? Get some food and kinda just picnic?"

Maybe it was a dumb idea, but the little smile on Noctis' face suggested that he didn't think so. He smiled, a gentle and soft expression as he met Prompto's eyes. "Okay," he nodded, his expression softening a little bit further into one of gratitude. "I know of just the place. Somewhere that no Pietas' or whoever else will be able to find us and bother us. Do you want me to carry that for you?" He motioned to the bag that Prompto still held in his hand.

Prompto shook his head, maybe a little too adamantly, as he moved the bag just slightly to hide it behind his back. "N-no! No, it's... I can carry it. It's not that heavy."

"Okay," Noctis answered, his expression just a little bit suspicious.

As much as Prompto didn't want to concern Noctis, he wanted to wait to give the gifts to Noctis. To wait until they were all settled in, if he could manage to drive the whole horrible situation between Noctis and Pietas from Noctis' mind. Just a little bit longer. Prompto followed as Noctis beckoned for him and suggested that they head to a bistro to get some lunch.

"Then," Noctis said, "we can head to the spot Crowe showed me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter titled because the name Pietas (ironically) means Kindness in Latin! You wanted Pietas, I gave you Pietas. ;D
> 
> Hang on to your butts, friends. One of the moments you've all been waiting for is JUST around the corner. ♥
> 
> Side note! Don't forget to check out [Echoes in the Dark](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11412138/chapters/26832537), by my dear friend [nicoleiacross](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross)! She just updated with a brand new chapter!


	4. Inevitable

The old, closed down, fisherman's pier didn't look like much on its own. A bunch of places on the top of the pier were rusted and broken, with jagged bits and dangerous, rusty, edges. Maybe it was cool in an artistic sense, and Noctis knew that Prompto would see that, too. It was dangerous, though, which was why they were traveling underneath it, rather than over the top. The pier, in and of itself, wasn't where they were going, though. It was kind of like a landmark, though. As they passed under it, through a prison-like enclosure of rusty metal and rotting wood, Noctis watched as Prompto looked around curiously, then raised his camera to snap a couple of pictures of the end of the pier.

Yep. Noctis knew that he'd see the artistry.

"This place looks like something you'd see in a scary movie," Prompto started, adjusting the same bag he'd held all day, the one with his new clothes, on his arm. "You know, two people go to the abandoned pier, then get chased around by the psycho killer and have to make a mad dash back to the city and hope for safety or something?"

Noctis couldn't help but chuckle a little bit as he adjusted the bag with their lunch under his good arm. "We're kinda lucky, though," he mused. "Usually, that stuff only takes place at night and it's just past noon. Long as we head home by the time the sun starts to set, _our_ horror scenario shouldn't be an issue." He, of course, meant Hour Twenty-Five. It hadn't taken them long at all to get here. Even with how hobbled they were, it had only taken them about ten minutes, so leaving when the sun was _just starting_ to set would put them back in the protection of the daemon lights with plenty of time to spare.

With a smile and a soft chuckle, Prompto nodded. "Probably a good thing, honestly. I wouldn't be able to run, and you'd have to leave me behind. I wanted a few things from this trip, but being chopped into bits by an axe murderer or torn apart by a daemon under a really cool, really busted pier isn't one of them," he mused.

"That wouldn't happen," Noctis shook his head no. "I'd carry you if I had to. I'd, uh..." He paused, thinking through his next words a little too carefully, probably. But it was important, reminding Prompto that there was nothing that Noctis wouldn't do to keep him safe. No matter what happened, nothing like what had happened in Galdin Quay would happen here. He wouldn't fail Prompto like that again. "Nothing like that would ever happen to you if I could help it."

The smile on Prompto's face dimmed, along with the lighthearted air of the conversation, and admittedly, Noctis felt a little bit guilty. Up until then, the mood had picked up considerably, even after the confrontation with Pietas had destroyed it like it had. Prompto stared at the sand beneath their feet for a couple of seconds, before turning to look at Noctis. Behind his new frames—which Noctis still couldn't _believe_ had upped his confidence as much as it seemed like they had—the seriousness in Prompto's gaze was equal parts surprising and not. Noctis hadn't meant to take the conversation in such a serious direction, but that was where it ended up going.

Sighing softly, Prompto shrugged his head to the side. "Just once, I want to protect you. Y'know? Defend you like you defend me." His eyes were on the sand again as they made their way to the spot Crowe had shown him all those years ago.

Honestly, Noctis was a little bit sad. All this time, and Prompto still didn't see how much he _had_ defended Noctis. "What're you talking about?" he asked. "You do it all the time. Remember back when we fought the behemoth? You _threw_ yourself at Gladio's daemon self like... five or six times to try and keep it from hurting me. Back when we were in Keycatrich? You got your daemon self away from me before it killed me. And back there? With Pietas? You... you help me all the time."

Prompto didn't answer at first.

"I'm serious, Prom. Like, even just by being there. Just… you know, by being around, you're helping me. Before I met you, I… I mean, I wasn't _alone_. I had everyone. But even with everyone, it felt like I was alone. So," Noctis shrugged a shoulder. "Just being in Piztala that day, and on the same train as me? Just ending up in my life, even though stuff hasn't exactly been the easiest in the world since then? You helped me that way, too."

The silence that hung in the air after he finished speaking was heavy. Just like the other day with his stupid shower comment. Just like every _other_ time he said something that was but wasn't a confession of how he felt about Prompto. In the back of Noctis' mind, a little voice was starting to wonder if this was Prompto's way of letting him down easy. If Prompto _caught_ everything that he was laying out plain and clear on the ground, but didn't want to tell him that the feelings weren't mutual, because he still valued their friendship. At the same time, though, if that was the case? What about all those moments, all of those times that he thought _maybe_ he was seeing reciprocation? Was it just his wishful mind wanting it to happen?

When Prompto spoke again, it dragged him out of his thoughts and snapped his attention back to his friend. "Well, um… the same goes for you, you know? Everything in my life changed when we became friends. Like… I was so miserable. I… I had Cindy and Aranea. I had Cid. But I was lonely, too. I didn't know anything about myself. D-didn't know that I could function in Hour Twenty-Five… didn't even know that Hour Twenty-Five _existed_. Didn't know that… that people like you guys were out there."

Prompto paused for a moment, looking over at Noctis with a shrug and a gentle smile. "But now I do. Not only do I know you all exist, but I know that… a part of me exists that's w-way, way stronger than I ever thought it could be." He grinned and shrugged his shoulder.

"And to think," Noctis added, his lips quirking up into a half-grin, "we owe it all to that trip to Piztala a couple of months ago."

With a soft laugh, Prompto nodded his agreement. "We owe it to my dad," he added, his voice just slightly more dismal with that revelation.

Noctis shook his head. "Remember what I said? Some people are just destined to be in your life. So, with or without your dad, I think we would've found a way into each other's lives." He didn't want Prompto to feel like he owed his dad anything anymore. Ever.

The two of them exchanged a smile—Prompto's was soft and maybe just a little bit nervous—and then Noctis turned to look out in front of them. There it was. The small stretch of beach was surrounded on all sides by tall grass, and giant, towering trees that put at least part of it comfortably in the shade for most daylight hours. The sand was clean and white, mostly untouched by the Altissian citizens, because of what they had to walk through to get there. High or low tide, this area of the beach was mostly untouched by the water, so even if the tide came out—admittedly, Noctis hadn't paid a ton of attention to the tide schedule that day—they'd be fine. Nothing would bother them.

"Hey. We're here," Noctis pointed out. "What do you think?"

Prompto's eyes were wide, and Noctis couldn't help but smile. Pleasant surprise like that looked great on him. "Wow," he murmured, the stunned expression on his face turning to a smile. "Crowe showed you this place?"

Nodding, Noctis shrugged. "Nyx showed her. Said he took Luna here a lot when they just started dating, and then Crowe said she started taking Iris here..." He stopped short when he realized exactly what that was implying. Crowe took Iris here. Nyx took Luna here. And now... Noctis was taking Prompto here.

Either Prompto didn't catch on, or he was simply being nice to spare Noctis' feelings. "I can see why," he agreed. "This is... I mean, I've liked everywhere we've been this week so far, but this makes the beaches at Galdin seem like a joke." He chuckled softly and turned to look at Noctis.

A confusing combination of relief and disappointment bubbled from Noctis' chest. He could only imagine how stupid his face looked then. Pushing through it, though, he gestured down to the sand for Prompto to make himself comfortable, and the pair of them sat down to eat together. They were in the perfect position in the sand, with the sun hitting their faces and the shade covering their backs, and Noctis couldn't help but smile happily as he divided their meals and started to eat. The quiet dissipated, the two of them easing back into casual and comfortable conversation once again. Noctis could confidently say that he'd never been more thankful in his life for anything than he was for their comfort with each other.

They talked about everything and nothing all at once. Art pieces they'd seen at the gallery. Fears and goals. Favorite TV shows when they were kids. Food preferences. After a laughter-filled conversation about how Noctis felt that restaurants always put way too much lettuce on sandwiches, another stretch of silence covered the area. The lapping of the waves against the sand was all he heard for a couple of seconds, before Prompto finally spoke up again.

"So, Pietas..." Prompto's voice was quiet, as he picked a couple of sesame seed crumbs from his pant leg.

Noctis froze at the sound of that name. Honestly, it was completely reasonable for Prompto to have questions, and it wasn't like Noctis really had anything to hide, either. He glanced down into the sand, at the pile of lettuce that he'd picked from his sandwich, and then turned his attention to Prompto. "What about him?" he asked. His tone wasn't sad, wasn't angry, wasn't anything, really. The man was a part of his past, a mistake that he'd have to live with for the rest of his life. So, he'd answer whatever Prompto wanted to ask.

Still idly flicking sesame seeds from his pant leg, Prompto turned to look at Noctis. "You two dated?"

At first, all Noctis could do was laugh a bitter note. "No. We didn't date. I wouldn't call it that," he confessed. "It's... it's pretty much what I said happened back there. I was at the Choco Mog Carnival with everyone. My dad and Clarus, too. Obviously." Heaving a sigh, he turned to look at his hands. Just because he was past what had happened, just because he was okay, didn't mean that it was his favorite thing to talk about. Breathing a heavy sigh, he forced himself to look at Prompto again.

"I was supposed to spend the day with my dad, but I met Pietas at around noon. We spent the whole rest of the day together. Until sunset. He promised we'd, you know, hang out the next day, too, but said that he'd never been as attracted to anyone as he was to me and he knew I felt the same way." Noctis shrugged, looking Prompto right in the eye. "At the time, he was right," he admitted. "So, we... y'know, did. In a back alley. It was way less romantic than I always wanted my first time to be, but it was... yeah. My first time. My, um... only time."

Prompto's eyes were wide as he looked back at Noctis. "R-really? Your... you? Your only..."

With a nod, Noctis sighed. "I mean... yeah. He, um... the next day, he and his friends found me at the carnival. Where I said I'd be waiting for him." This was honestly the part that hurt the most. As much as he'd thought he'd liked Pietas at the time, he'd realized now that it was more of a physical, in the moment thing. But, "they all knew somehow. I mean, it's obvious how. They called me all kinds of names,  though. Easy. Back alley slut was probably my favorite one." He snorted derisively. Sarcasm. Least favorite was more accurate.

"W-what? Really?"

The surprise in Prompto's expression was enough to make Noctis laugh a slightly more genuine note. It still sucked to think about the situation, but at least his taste in company had improved a lot since then. "Yeah. They followed me around when I finally met up with my dad. And that was how he found out what happened."

"And then... somehow his hair got dyed removed and his skin got dyed pink?" Arching an eyebrow, Prompto let the tiniest grin cross his face.

Noctis laughed aloud at that, nodding his head excitedly. "That... was Crowe. Crowe, Nyx, and Pelna, actually. The next night, during Twenty-Five, they snuck into his parents' place—because Pietas was still living with his parents at the time—and replaced his shampoo with Nair and his body wash with pink dye..." He covered his mouth with his hand, but Prompto could still probably see the smile on his face. "And then my dad and Clarus went to his parents. Which is probably why he kept bringing my dad up today." His expression fell again.

With a sigh, Noctis continued. "I... it was really, really shitty and everything? But I decided that day, that I wanted to, you know, really be into someone before I did anything like that again. Really know them and trust them. So, yeah. My only," he explained, circling back to Prompto's question at the start of the conversation. Really into someone. Like he was with Prompto. But he didn't mention that right then.

"That's... that's a good thing, though," Prompto pointed out. "N-not that there's anything _bad_ about... y'know, doing it just for fun. I... I just think it means more if it's with someone you really care about. You really love." A brief pause, and he added, "I mean, that's what I've heard."

Heard. "So, you've never..." Noctis cast a sidelong look at Prompto.

Prompto's face was bright red, illuminating the freckles on his cheeks. "N-no. I mean... I've... I've never had the chance. You know? I've... I've never even had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or anything.  I've never actually even kissed anyone, so... s-so um..." Another brief pause. "It's pathetic, I know." He laughed at his own expense.

But Noctis shook his head no, glancing up at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling in quickly from the east. It would probably start to rain soon, but for the moment, they were okay, and he was in no rush to leave. "I don't think it's pathetic." Nothing about Prompto was pathetic. Least of all the fact that he hadn't dated anyone. "Surprising, maybe. Not pathetic, though."

"Why is it surprising?" Prompto asked. "I-it's not like I'm the most, y'know, confident person in the world. You've gotta be confident to get people's attention. R-right?"

That wasn't what was surprising, though. Noctis shrugged and shook his head no. "I mean, I wish you had more confidence, but I understand that part," he confessed. As much as he didn't like that he understood it. "It's more... you're you. You're... you're one of the nicest people I know. And smart. Funny. Your eyes are amazing. And your smile and the way you laugh..." Everything about him, from his head to his toes, was beautiful. Noctis didn't allow himself to say that, though. "I'm just... I'm amazed someone hasn't, y'know, taken you off the market for good."

Prompto blinked. "O-oh. I... thanks." More of that perfect pink flush coated his cheeks, and made him look all the more amazing.

Another stretch of silence, heavy and strangling, blanketed them, and Noctis turned to look at Prompto, watching as he tentatively reached for his bag of clothes. His chance. This was his chance, wasn't it? To tell Prompto about his feelings and to ask if, by some crazy stretch of the imagination, Prompto felt the same? Swallowing thickly, he turned to look at Prompto, and opened his mouth to speak.

Before the words could even come out, though, Prompto was reaching over, placing a gift bag and then a black wrapped box into Noctis' lap. Words died in Noctis' throat as he glanced down at the gifts, and he blinked. "Wh-what's-"

"I, um... bought these for you today. While you were talking with Mira. I just... I wanted to thank you. You know? For being there for me all the time, and for everything that you did for me today. It's not much, but..." Prompto shrugged, gesturing with his good hand toward the gifts on Noctis' lap.

Noctis felt a smile tug one corner of his lips up. He'd known that something was strange about how Prompto took off, and how he came up with some lame excuse about air conditioner not being in a store where it was pretty much on full blast. But whatever he'd expected to be the reason, this wasn't it. He'd honestly thought that maybe it had to do with Prompto seeing someone cute, or maybe needing a little break from being around Noctis for the whole week. A gift for Noctis, though... wasn't expected at all.

Laughing a single soft note as he reached for the ribbon that surrounded the box, Noctis shook his head. "You're amazing."

"You don't even know what it is yet," Prompto pointed out.

But Noctis just shrugged as he started to tear the wrapping paper. "Don't care. You're still amazing." He chanced a glance Prompto's way.

After catching a glimpse of Prompto's bashful smile, he tore the paper back to reveal a set of charcoal pencils. One of the sets that he'd been thinking about getting for awhile now, but always hesitated for one reason or another, and Prompto just bought them out of the blue. He blinked and smiled wide. "Yup. Amazing."

Prompto laughed softly. "Keep going. Th-there's more."

More. Of course, logically, Noctis knew that, since he still hadn't looked in the gift bag, but the charcoal pencils themselves were more than he had expected. Still, he reached for the gift bag, ignoring the first couple drops of rain as they hit his arm. He opened the bag and moved the paper around, revealing a large box of colored pencils and a book. He took the colored pencils out and looked them over. The smile on his face grew. Another set that he remembered mentioning to Prompto that he'd wanted. Something to put color to his drawings, instead of always having them in black and white.

But what _really_ caught his attention was the book. It was a leather sketchbook, with a simple clasp made of silver and adorned with a blue sapphire, and _immediately_ , Noctis found himself thinking about the box his mom had left behind. He blinked, staring at it and barely noticing the specks of rain as they collected on the cover. It was _easily_ the most thoughtful gift he'd ever gotten. His head turned, his gaze meeting Prompto's, and he smiled. "Thank you..." he murmured.

Every instinct, from his mind to his heart and everything in between and beyond, was screaming at him to close the distance between him, grab Prompto, and kiss him until neither of them could breathe. For once, he didn't want to fight. Honestly, he saw no reason to anymore. There had to be something between them, if they shared thoughts and feelings, bought each other gifts and didn't mind spending every waking second together. Right?

Except, as he moved a little closer, when there were only inches separating his left hip from touching Prompto's right, the sky decided to open up.

Normal rain wouldn't have deterred him. Noctis didn't mind rain. He liked it, actually. It sparked his creativity and he got some of his best drawing done when it rained outside, and he was warm inside with coffee or cocoa or soup or something. This rain, though, was almost like someone was holding a giant bucket over Accordo from the sky and dumping it out, or spraying a hose directly onto the country. The type of rain that, in a couple of hours, could cause flash floods. Already, Noctis was drenched, to the point that it looked like he'd jumped into the water with his clothes on. Even _this_ wasn't really enough to deter him, honestly. 

Prompto, though, had to look over the brim of his glasses to be able to see. He was looking at Noctis in question, before reaching to his left to gather his crutches from the soaking wet sand. "We... we should leave, shouldn't we?" He had to yell, just a little, so that Noctis could hear him over the sound of rain patting the sand and dropping into the ocean in front of them.

Heaving a sigh that the sound of the rain drowned out, Noctis nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, c'mon. Let's go."

Through the whole of their rush to get Noctis' gifts into protective covering, and their hurried hobbling rush to get back to the city, under the pier and up the ugly, half-rotted staircase that led back to the Altissian streets, Noctis had to wonder if this was some kind of cruel divine intervention. Every time he got close, every time he _almost_ got to give into his feelings and kiss Prompto, something happened. Some kind of something got in the way and gave a cosmic 'no,' halting him in his tracks. As they hurried through the emptied out Altissia streets, trying to get back to Weskham's apartment, Noctis decided that he was tired of it. Cosmic no or not, Noctis was tired of interruptions. He reached a hand out, placing it on Prompto's good shoulder and watching as his friend turned. The rain had his blond hair sticking to his forehead, and falling down into his eyes. His glasses were speckled with water, as were his cheeks, and his clothes were soaked through and through, but he still looked perfect.

Noctis smiled a lopsided smile as he regarded his best friend. "C-come with me, okay?" he asked. His tone was just slightly hushed, so that only Prompto could hear him. Not that it mattered. There was no one else around.

Behind rain-specked glasses, Prompto's eyes were curious, but he nodded his head and followed Noctis' lead. Trust. Not that he'd ever shown Noctis anything _but_ trust, but it still took him by surprise sometimes, how readily and honestly that Prompto offered trust to him.

Down a side street and into a completely enshrouded alley they went. Walls surrounded them on three sides, two belonging to businesses, and a third to an apartment complex. Noctis didn't care. Whoever was inside could look if they wanted to. He'd wanted to do this for months. Maybe a rain-soaked Altissia wasn't exactly the most romantic place for it to happen, but he couldn't help it. Prompto crutched up behind him, regarding him with curiosity as he leaned against the wall to relax.

Now wasn't the time to chicken out. Noctis swallowed nervously, turning toward Prompto and approaching him slowly. His good arm came to rest on the brick wall next to Prompto's head, and he watched as Prompto turned his head, tracing Noctis' elbow to his wrist with curious eyes. When he turned back, locking eyes with Noctis, a look remarkably similar to the one he'd shown months ago, after the incident in Keycatrich, crossed his face. Bright blue eyes were wide but almost pleading, and Noctis smiled softly in response, before bringing his cast-covered hand up to sweep some of Prompto's hair from his face. This time, it was going to happen.

There was nothing in the whole world to stop him this time. The hand on the wall came down to rest on Prompto's cheek, urging him with a gentle brush to relax. It didn't work. As Noctis leaned closer, he could feel Prompto's heart pounding against his own chest, but that was okay, because he was pretty sure that his own heart pounded like a kick drum.

Until he finally leaned in and captured Prompto's lips with his own. Then, it felt almost like it had stopped and restarted at the same time.

At first, he just pressed their lips together for the briefest of seconds. A first kiss for them, and a first kiss for Prompto altogether. After the brief contact, he just left their foreheads pressed together for a second, locking their eyes and brushing his fingertips along Prompto's skin again. "Guess I really am a back alley slut," he joked.

Prompto laughed a throaty note and then shrugged his good shoulder. "If... if you are, then so am I," he pointed out in a voice that was more breath than anything.

Noctis laughed, too, a gentle breath against Prompto's skin, and then leaned in to capture his lips again. Deeper this time. He'd been wondering if it would be welcome for weeks. For _months_ now. Prompto's reaction, the way he leaned into every single touch and reciprocated with a touch of his own—his hand trailed down Noctis' cheek, to his neck, and rested on his chest, leaving little sparks of electricity and excitement in its wake—told him that it absolutely was. Not just welcome, _wanted_. Prompto initiated a third kiss, a little bit sloppy, but absolutely perfect in Noctis' opinion, and then met his eyes.

"A-apartment...?" Prompto whispered, his lips quirked into a smile filled with more confidence that Noctis had ever seen before.

It was sexy as hell, and it had Noctis nodding in agreement without a second thought. However, as Noctis stole one last hungry kiss as he backed away from Prompto, he had no idea the news that was waiting for them when they got back to the apartment. If he did... well, he wanted to say that he wouldn't have left the alley, but that probably wasn't true. He would have, and Prompto probably would have, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ABOUT TIME, RIGHT GUYS?
> 
> >_> Also... hold onto your hats, folks.


	5. Imminent

If Prompto had thought, for even a second, that going to the beach with Noctis that day would end with them stopping every few steps of their hurried and hobbled run home to sneak in a quick make-out session, he would have agreed to it a hundred, a thousand, a _million_ times over. The whole elevator ride was spent much like that moment in the alley, stealing hungry and desperate kisses with Prompto pinned against the wall and Noctis' lips roving along his body. From Prompto's lips, to his neck, to his shoulder, then back to his lips again. Breathless didn't even begin to cover it, honestly. Every single iota of Prompto's being felt _alive_. Charged with energy in a way he'd never been before. Not even when his aeon awoke. That was close, but it didn't quite match up.

It was only when they got to the apartment, while Noctis fumbled to find the keys to put them into the lock, that they noticed something was amiss. The door was already unlocked. At first, at _very_ first, Prompto's mind jumped to the worst. Pietas had found a way to get inside, somehow. The place was being robbed by some random person they'd never even met before.

When Noctis finally did get the door open, keeping Prompto protectively behind him by holding an arm out, the answer they found was simultaneously better and worse. Every light in the living room was on, illuminating the whole area completely. What they saw wasn't a robber, wasn't Pietas... but there was someone there. Multiple someones, actually. Sitting in the living room—all throughout the living room, and the kitchen as well—was the entire team. Weskham and Cor stood in the kitchen with Iris and Crowe. Luna lay tiredly on Nyx's lap while he ran his fingers through her hair. Gladio sat in one of the chairs, with Ignis across the room from him. Aranea and Cindy sat on the floor as they looked through the living room in amazement. That, however, wasn't the most surprising part.

On the floor, several feet away from Aranea and Cindy, sat two very familiar faces, and Prompto couldn't help the sharp gasp that he let out at the sight of them. Ravus sat on the floor in front of the couch, worrying over Luna as she rested in Nyx's lap. Mere inches to his right sat Loqi, looking around the room _extremely_ uncomfortably. He tried to hide it. Prompto could tell. But he also knew that expression all too well from his own experience. His eyes shot from person to person around the room, like he expected to be attacked at any given moment.

Honestly, with Aranea, Gladio, and Noctis in the room, it was a distinct possibility.

Despite that, Prompto couldn't stop himself from letting out a quiet noise and hiding behind Noctis' back just slightly. Loqi was here. Loqi was here with everyone. _Why_ was Loqi here with everyone else, looking like he belonged, even despite his nerves? Why was he acting like he was a part of this family; like he'd _always_ been a part of this family? Why, once again, did he step into a place that Prompto _finally_ felt safe and comfortable, and crush that safety and comfort into tiny and microscopic dust motes, then scatter it to the wind?

Why, when Prompto was _finally_ happy, was Loqi showing his face again? He didn't get a chance to speak or to ask any of his questions, because Cindy stood from the floor and hurried in front of them. She tilted her head to the side, curiously. " _There_ y'all are! We were wonderin' if y'got stuck somewhere out in that nasty ol' rain."

Luna sounded off from the couch. "Yes," she agreed. "We've been texting you on and off since this morning, but Crowe discovered that Prompto left his cell phone on the counter in the kitchen. That, I suppose, explains why he didn't answer his messages." She turned her head just slightly, her eyes on Noctis.

"Not you, though," Nyx supplied, offering a slightly exasperated expression Noctis' way.

Noctis looked and felt very stiff in his muscles as he held his place in front of Prompto, shielding him from Loqi just slightly. "I'm, uh... I'm sorry. We were really busy, and..." He blinked a couple of times, before settling his eyes on Loqi again. "Wh-why are they here? What are they... when-"

Huffing an annoyed noise, Aranea turned her gaze to Loqi. "Been asking myself the same question for the past few days. Believe me," she mumbled.

Through gritted teeth, Loqi turned from where he'd been glaring at Noctis and Prompto, to glare at Aranea. "You're not the only one, Highwind," he seethed, before turning to look at Noctis. "And Caelum. If you don't mind, direct any questions that you have for me? To me. I'm more than capable of speaking for myself." He grumbled.

Ravus heaved a sigh and turned from Luna to look at Noctis. "We've come to offer assistance, Caelum. It is... we..." He stumbled, but when Luna reached out and placed a hand on his arm, he let a gentle smile come to his face. "We had thought that, perhaps, Loqi could offer a unique perspective on Dr. Besithia's research, considering how closely they worked together and for how many years." Turning his gaze toward Loqi, Ravus urged him to speak with a gentle glance.

"I..." Loqi started, and then stumbled, the first bit of vulnerability Prompto had heard from his brother in years.

It surprised Prompto and relaxed him, in equal parts. He allowed himself the slightest glance at Loqi from over Noctis' shoulder, and he was immediately stunned. For the first time in a really long time, Loqi really looked like his brother. Ironic, considering that he wasn't really. Not by blood. He looked like it, though. Uncomfortable. Awkward. Nervous and worried about being in a room with people who didn't like him. The same exact way that Prompto had felt for years, living at home with Loqi and their father. In spite of himself, the tiniest bit of sympathy bubbled in his chest.

That only increased when Loqi met Prompto's eye. There was a really weird look there, something that Prompto both did and didn't remember. It was like something from a past life, or from a time before he could _really_ remember. Sadness. Vague apology, maybe. Whatever it was, he didn't put it to words. Instead, he breathed in a slow and steadying breath. "Yeah. What Rae said. Father's been... he's been doing some really weird research lately."

"Lately," interrupted Aranea in a deadpan voice, an irritated look on her face.

Weskham, who finally arrived in the room from the kitchen, looked at Aranea pointedly. "Aranea. Let him speak. You already know this, but it is equally important for Noctis and Prompto to know," he added.

With a nod, Cindy slid back into place next to Aranea and wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders. "Ain't like Loqi can do nothin' to hurt 'im with all of us here, right?" Her mistrust was more carefully spoken, gentler and less direct than Aranea's, but it was very obviously still there in the way that she refused to look at Loqi when she talked about him.

Loqi sighed. "Yeah, I know. I wouldn't anyway. Can I continue?" he asked.

Honestly, Prompto was surprised that he wasn't jumping on Cindy and Aranea for ambushing him like they always did; jumping on them like he always did.  All Prompto could do was stare at him, bite down hard on his lip and try not to speak out of turn. That was what their dad always told him, after all. Wait until his turn to speak. Let Loqi or their dad finish what they had to say, before he put his two cents in. If he got to put his two cents in at all. He wasn't that person anymore. He wasn't that scared kid, stuck with a family who hated him. The people in the room, Ravus aside, would never let Loqi do anything to hurt him, just like Cindy said.

With that in mind, he breathed a shaky breath and stepped up behind Noctis, rather than hide behind him. "A-as long as you're..." He stopped, realizing that his voice had escaped without his permission, and turning to look at Loqi. The surprise on his brother's face was enough to make him want to hide again, but the gentle squeeze coming from Noctis' hand urged him to continue. "As... as long as you're not gonna, y'know... be mean..."

"I'm not gonna be mean," Loqi insisted, his expression once again surprising Prompto. It was the same old Loqi expression, but mixed in, there was something different. It wasn't sadness, not quite. It wasn't regret, either. Before Prompto had a chance to really think about it much more, he continued. "It's like I said. Father's been weird lately."

Noctis spoke up from beside him. "How so?" His voice was a low rumble in his throat, a threat, telling both Loqi _and_ Ravus that he didn't trust them.

Sighing, Loqi cast a glare Noctis' way. "I'll explain if you give me a minute." He huffed a breath and raised his shoulders in a shrug. "He's hiding stuff from me." After a pause, he continued. "I mean... he always hides some things, but lately it's been everything." The usual confidence was nowhere in Loqi's expression at all. There was no smile, no confident quirk of the lips that told Prompto that he was just barely holding back some jab at Prompto's expense. Nothing. Just confusion.

It had Prompto all the more curious. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I called him the day before we deci-" A short pause, where it seemed like Loqi reconsidered his phrasing, then he continued, "three days before Rae made me come with him to the compound. He didn't answer." Raising his eyes to glance at Prompto, Loqi shrugged his head. "You know how weird that is, Argentum. Father... he's always way too worried about what I'm doing when he's not around. I could pass off the not answering, though. It was weird, but... y'know. Not that weird."

A few times, Loqi opened his mouth to continue, to go on and explain whatever it was that wasn't settling right. He fell short, though, and it only got worse when he found himself under a scrutinizing gaze from Aranea and Cindy. Gladio, too, looked at him suspiciously, and for the first time in a long, long time, Prompto felt a kinship with his brother. He didn't dare say it out loud, though. No matter who was around, no matter what was going on, there was still a lingering fear that Loqi would say something. Or even worse, that this whole thing was some kind of cover and that Loqi—and Ravus, for that matter—would do something to harm them all.

Instead, Loqi just sighed again. "It was when I called two nights before we left that really weirded me out," he explained. "He answered, but he didn't talk to me. He was on the line for all of two minutes, and all I heard was a bunch of background noise. Laboratory background noise. He kept talking about ratios and blood levels and... things that... well, _mostly_ things that I already knew."

Loqi stopped, turning his head to glance to Ravus in a wordless request for help.

Humming a note of agreement, Ravus turned to look at Prompto. "We know for certain now, that he's using your blood, yours, Caelum's, and Loqi's own, for his research. But before we could uncover what that research actually was, before he revealed anything, the call cut off," he explained. "It felt almost as though he was baiting us. Admittedly, I'm not certain of the legitimacy of all of this, but there is a third bit that finally put us over the edge, and caused us to seek you all out and request your help." As he stopped talking, he turned his head to look at Ignis.

At first, Ignis didn't seem to notice that the conversation had shifted in his direction. It was only when Gladio cleared his throat and called out with a slightly sad, but very worried, "Igs," that Ignis finally looked up.

"Yes?" Ignis asked, turning from casting Gladio a slightly exasperated expression, to glance at Ravus, who was looking at him expectantly.

Ravus held his hand out. "If you could hand me the journal, Scientia, so I can bring it to Prompto?" he asked.

Admittedly, Prompto wasn't sure what was more surprising, the fact that Ignis didn't hand the book he was holding over to Ravus straight away, or the way that he'd looked at Gladio moments before. What had happened? Prompto and Noctis had only been gone for three days, and all of this new information—including possible information about the blood that had been taken from Noctis and Prompto weeks ago—all of this new _everything_ had happened while they were gone. Resolving to work it out in his mind later, Prompto watched as Ignis, with a resigned expression on his face, handed the book in his hands over to Ravus.

As Ravus stood, Prompto was a little embarrassed by the fact that his immediate reaction was to dart into hiding behind Noctis again. So much for bravery, but after everything that happened at Keycatrich, he was pretty sure he had a pass. Still, he fought the urge to use his good hand to grab a fistful of Noctis' soaking wet shirt to try and ease his tension. Each step that brought Ravus closer had Prompto tensing more and more, but when all the _incredibly intimidating_ man did when he reached the spot where Noctis stood protectively in front of Prompto was hold the journal out, Prompto allowed himself to relax just slightly.

Reaching forward, Prompto took the journal from Ravus' hand and looked it over. "What is it?" he asked, his voice a little shaky.

Ravus' expression was surprisingly soft as he looked at Prompto. "Your father's personal journal. I found it in the backseat of my car the day before yesterday. Scientia has been very... scrupulously... scanning it for details, so I will ask that you return it to him once you glance at the last page," he spoke calmly, his voice sounding more like Luna's than it had that night in Galdin Quay.

Everything about Ravus seemed softer, actually. His voice, his face, the way he stood... he was still intimidating, sure, but there was something else in his expression, too. Regret. Sadness. Concern about his sister, who looked more tired than usual, Prompto was now noticing. Maybe later, Prompto could ask him about it. Maybe he could ask about what happened at Keycatrich, too, and why Ravus had done what he did. Now, though, as every eye in the room was on him expectantly, he opened the journal and flipped through it. Noctis read over his shoulder, too, but Prompto didn't take much time on each page. Maybe there were things he'd want to know on one of the other pages, but with everyone staring at him, he felt inclined to go a little bit quicker. He could ask about that later, too.

Prompto finally stopped on the final page of the journal that had writing on it. It was dated a week ago. Prompto's brow furrowed. "Day before yesterday? But... but dad's been in Niflheim for more than a month now..." he murmured, flicking his eyes up to look at Loqi.

"Yeah. It gets worse." Loqi didn't look up at Prompto, instead stared down at the table.

As Prompto tore his eyes from Loqi's discomfort and looked back at the journal, he swallowed thickly. Did he even want to know? He felt Noctis, who had continued reading ahead of him, go tense immediately. The whole thing was written in very flowery words. Words that he never thought that his father would use, let alone in a journal. Did his father even keep a journal, other than his notes? Adding further question as to how a journal like this could end up in Ravus' car less than a week ago was the fact that the first few sentences were talking about conversations with business associates or whatever in Niflheim. Unless Ravus was in Niflheim, which somehow Prompto doubted, how was that possible?

Like Loqi said, though, it got worse. At the bottom of the page was vague not-quite-information on a daemon-based attack on Altissia. Prompto's eyes shot open like a rolling curtain. "T-tonight?"

A hum of confirmation—Cor's voice—filled the room. "That's why we're all here. The journal doesn't give any information about where or when the attack is happening, beyond that it's happening tonight," he explained, his eyes on the window. "Luna pretty much confirmed it last night, though. She sensed a spike right before dawn, out here." He turned to look at Luna.

Prompto's eyes followed. His mind was swimming, spinning a little too much to process all of this right now.

"Indeed," Luna answered, pushing up on the couch and sitting up from Nyx's lap. It looked like Nyx was going to stop her at first, but she gave him a pointed look, before relaxing against the back of the couch and looked at Prompto and Noctis. "The distance made it very difficult to pinpoint where it was coming from, but the fact that I could sense it from Lucis means that it is very, very strong. Far too strong for us to take on understaffed."

Loqi turned to look at Prompto, then Noctis. "We'll help you guys, obviously, but if it's something that Luna could sense from Lucis, we're probably gonna need you guys, too." He looked very tentative, anxious to even offer help.

The fact that he was, too, was confusing as all hell to Prompto. Blinking hard, Prompto nodded his head. "Y-yeah. I'll..." He looked at his crutches, then over to Cor and Weskham. "I mean... I want to help." It still depended on if Cor and Weskham gave the okay, obviously. If there were enough daemons for Luna to sense them from Lucis, though, first of all, Prompto wondered how they'd managed not to hear about it. Second of all, he knew that they'd need all the help they could get.

Which, probably, was the only reason that Weskham nodded his head. "We are hesitant to even ask it," he confessed.

"Yeah. Depending on the size of the spike, though, we're probably going to need all hands on deck." Cor turned to Noctis, a silent question in his expression as he looked Noctis over.

To no one's surprise, Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. Not even a question. I mean... all hands on deck means all hands. I'm not just gonna sit here while you guys all go and fight so many daemons that Luna could sense them all the way from home," he answered, pushing some of his rain-soaked hair from his face.

Gladio huffed. "Not super into making you guys get back out there before you're healed," he admitted.

Much to Prompto's surprise, the next voice to sound off was Ravus. "Indeed," he agreed. "However, as long as we keep those two and Scientia in the back, the chances of re-agitating their injuries should be minimal." His eyes turned to Ignis, who was on his feet and walking with a slight limp toward where Prompto still held the journal.

"I suppose that is for the best," Ignis agreed, holding his hand out to Prompto for the notebook. "I would like that back, please."

The worry on every face in the room—even Ravus and Loqi's faces, which was _really_ surprising—when they looked at Ignis was like a rusted knife completing the cut through the pleasant mood, the happiness, that Prompto had been feeling for the past few days. It was okay. Maybe after they finished what they had to do tonight, Weskham and Cor wouldn't mind if Prompto and Noctis went back to their vacation. Prompto, at least, would need a little bit of time to process what was happening. Too much was coming at him at the same time. He swallowed thickly as he stared down at the page that chronicled his father's plans to attack Altissia.

However, Prompto was almost immediately jarred from his thoughts by a sharp shout. "Prompto!" Ignis' voice jumped him, and he snapped his head up to look at Ignis' face.

All Prompto could do for a couple of seconds was blink. Noctis, too, appeared tense. As he raised a hand, very slowly, to hand the journal to Ignis, he mumbled, "I... I'm sorry, Ignis, I-"

Just as quickly as the anger showed up, though, a flash of shock sprang into its place. Shock turned to realization, and Ignis looked up to meet Prompto's eye as he accepted the notebook from Prompto's hand. "No. No, Prompto, I apologize. I didn't... I shouldn't have..." He glanced down at the journal in his hands, and then back up at Prompto. "Thank you," he finished. And then, he turned, pointedly ignoring all of the shocked faces watching him as he made his way back to his chair. He looked embarrassed for a few seconds, but then shortly thereafter, he was right back into his research.

Even Ravus and Loqi. Loqi almost looked... mad? Prompto didn't know why, honestly. It was no different from what Loqi had done to him all those years. Tamer, even. Between Ignis' shout, and the fact that Gladio just looked down at the table in front of him sadly, Prompto found himself worrying about Ignis all over again. While he would never take back the vacation he and Noctis had gone on for anything—too much good had happened, after all—it made him wonder if maybe they should have stayed home after all. Noctis' words, about Gladio making sure that Ignis didn't overdo it with his research, were proving untrue and even Noctis seemed worried.

The worry only multiplied, too, when Ignis simply tuned them all out and started reading over the journal again. What was happening to the person that Prompto met a few months ago; the person whose top priority was to make sure that nothing happened to Noctis; the person who took Prompto aside and tried to ease his worries when Noctis and Gladio stood in the other room and worked through a year long issue? And what about everything else he'd learned? That his dad was using not only Prompto's blood, but Loqi's and _Noctis'_ , for some unknown research? What could the research have possibly been? Did he honestly want to know?

The whole room was blanketed in an uncomfortable silence—one that Ignis still seemed to be completely unaware of—and Prompto swallowed thickly, his eyes finding Noctis' in the chaos. Just moments ago, not even twenty minutes, he'd been feeling like he was on top of the world, and now everything was a mess of question marks, confusion, uncertainty, and fear.

"Wesk? Cor? You two think me and Prom could have some time before the operation?" Noctis finally spoke up. "To clean up and everything?"

Gratitude flashed across Prompto's face, and he turned to look at Weskham and Cor as the pair exchanged nods, and then turned back to Noctis. "Of course. I apologize, lads," Weskham spoke up. "I realize that we interrupted your vacation and threw a lot of information at you all at once. You especially," he amended, glancing at Prompto. "If you aren't certain that you're in condition to accompany us-"

Prompto shook his head. "No. No, I'm fine. I can still shoot, and I can still call Carbuncle, so I'm... I'm okay. Really," he answered, his eyes finding the floor. He raised them, settling on Loqi, who was looking back at him in surprise. He looked almost... impressed?

With a nod of agreement, Noctis sighed softly. "I... yeah, me too. I can summon Bahamut fine, and as long as I only use this hand-" he raised the hand that was locked with Prompto's- "I can use my sword fine." There was definitely some uncertainty in his tone. His ribs were still sore and Prompto knew it. That didn't change the fact that they were both needed, though.

It was decided that the pair of them would take to the rooms they had been using as theirs for the past few days to shower and get dressed. The rest of the group would wait in the living room and the kitchen, just like they had been for the whole of the time that Prompto and Noctis were out at the beach. Prompto's shower was longer than usual. Contemplative. His thoughts were a swirling tornado, composed of everything that had transpired over the past few hours. Ignis' distance, his determination to pore over Prompto's dad's research, was the first thing to enter his mind. Would this have even happened if Prompto wasn't around? If Prompto wasn't around, Ignis never would have known that the research existed. He would never have found the notebook in Prompto's dad's apartment and never would have wanted to go back for all of that _other_ research.

He'd be okay, and wouldn't be up to his shoulders in things that somehow, as smart as he was, he couldn't understand.

Then there was the fact that Prompto's dad was doing research with Noctis' blood. Prompto's blood was one thing. Loqi's, too, was the same thing. They were his sons, at least by adoption. It wasn't _right_ , no. At least it was better than taking blood from Noctis, though. Noctis was a stranger to his dad, and a stranger who hadn't even done anything wrong, at that. Just because he'd found his way into Prompto's life, he was sucked into this mess, too. It wouldn't have surprised Prompto, honestly, if he regretted everything that had happened before they entered the apartment. All the kind things he'd done; not to mention the kisses they'd shared...

And that was where his thoughts were when he dried off and dressed in some of the new clothes that Noctis had bought for him. A cobalt blue t-shirt, and green jeans, with a pair of black combat boots. Sliding his new glasses onto his face and running a comb through his hair, he breathed a sigh, picked his crutches up, and headed to the door. Maybe if he sat in Weskham's room and waited for Noctis to finish his shower, he could talk to his friend and apologize.

Except when he opened the door to get to Gladio and Ignis' room, he saw that Noctis was already there, waiting for him with his new sketchbook and one of his new pencils in his hands.

"Noct..." he whispered in greeting.

When Noctis turned to look at him, concern lined his eyes. He was on his feet as quickly as his ribs would allow, and he crossed the room to pull Prompto to him in a gentle hug. "Are you okay? That was... that was a lot all at once..." he murmured against Prompto's hair.

In spite of everything, Prompto managed a weak—but surprised—smile. He leaned into Noctis' embrace and found himself unable to keep from letting out a sigh. "Not really," he admitted. "Better now, though." As long as Noctis was around, he'd always be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES. This absolutely means that Ravus and Loqi are going to play an even more crucial part in things from here on out! Take from that what you will, but it's gonna be fun times!
> 
> Love you guys. ♥


	6. Family

It had taken him awhile—and several more kisses—to convince Prompto that, no, none of what was happening was his fault. No one blamed him at all. The only one blaming him was him. It wasn't a surprise, not really. Between Loqi and Ravus showing up almost out of nowhere, Ignis snapping at him like he had, and finding out for certain that his dad was doing something bad with the blood he'd collected from them? Well... Noctis would have been more surprised if he _hadn't_ felt a little bit miserable. Or a lot miserable. As much as he tried, and as much as Prompto claimed that he was okay now, Noctis could still see the anxiety in his eyes. It was expected. Not only was Loqi there, but Ravus was there, too. Ravus. The man who had already tried to kill Prompto once.

If there was one good thing about this, it was that Noctis could finally get answers for _that_. After tonight's operation—all of which Noctis would spend watching Loqi and Ravus closely and ensuring that they couldn't get near Prompto—he would make a point to ask Ravus what the hell he'd been trying to accomplish. Ravus seemed different now, sure. Much softer than he'd been at Galdin Quay that night. Regardless of how soft he was or wasn't, though, that didn't change the fact that he'd been directly responsible for Prompto almost dying that night. Luna's brother or not, Noctis couldn't excuse that.

Noctis found himself bitter about the fact that it was thrown at them when the pair of them had found a little slice of happiness. In one of the few light moments during Noctis' attempt to comfort Prompto, the pair of them jokingly lamented at the chance they lost to spend more time alone together. Noctis had _also_ come seconds away from telling Prompto exactly how he felt, and he lamented that loss, too. He'd almost done it. He had almost let it slip, that he was head over heels in love; that there was nothing he wouldn't do to preserve that smile.

Right before he got the chance to let it out, though, his phone went off in his pocket; a message from Weskham, telling them to meet the rest of the group in the living room immediately. It was almost nightfall. So, after they gathered their weapons and prepared as best they could, the whole team rendezvoused, and then walked out into a mostly-empty Altissia. The rain soaked Noctis' second outfit that day, and he gave an internal chuckle at the fact that, aside from temporarily warming his body, his shower had been pretty pointless.

It didn't matter. He could take another one later. What was important was the fact that everyone was here, things were being forced back to their version of normal, and Noctis _still_ hadn't been brave enough to tell Prompto how he felt. They'd kissed, but there was still a lot lingering. A lot that needed to be said. It was selfish. What they'd be dealing with tonight affected more than them, after all. If there was a spike this big, so close to Altissia, Verstael was obviously planning to cause some kind of harm. It couldn't have been in the city proper, Noctis knew that much. Daemon lights were plentiful. There wasn't a part of the city that wasn't protected.

According to Weskham and a half-present Ignis, that left the outlying territories, and the islands off the coast of Altissia. The way Ignis seemed to be drifting in and out was _really_ starting to concern Noctis, honestly. The brief conversation he'd had with Iris had told him that, no matter what anyone said, Ignis wouldn't stop burying himself in research. Noctis knew, of course, that Ignis was the smartest person on their team; the smartest person Noctis knew, really. Sometimes, Noctis was pretty sure that he was even smarter than Weskham. Because of that, research—when research was necessary—always seemed to fall on Ignis' shoulders.

That didn't mean, and Noctis was sure that everyone told Ignis this, that he needed to spend every single second of the day looking over journals that they couldn't even decode. Crowe had explained that the group had spent the past few days trying to convince him to let Loqi help. Loqi had told them that he knew the codes that his father used. Each time, though, Ignis pointed out that they still had no real way to know if they could _trust_ Loqi.

Gladio, in a dismal tone, had deemed that the worst part. "No one can tell him he's wrong, 'cause he's not," he told Noctis and Prompto, before flashing Prompto an apologetic look.

"No, don't apologize," Prompto shook his head as he wiped his rain-soaked hair from his face. "You're totally right." He glanced over to where Loqi and Ravus stood next to Luna and Nyx. "W-we still don't know why they're here. They could be planning something really bad."

With a shrug, Crowe followed Prompto's gaze. "For what it's worth? I don't think they are," she pointed out. "Muscles over here threatened to throw Ravus into the Disc for what he did to you, Freckles. They probably could've bailed after that. If I was going to face my enemies with the plan to fuck up their world? I'd probably run for the hills the second Muscles threatened me. Especially if he had Ulric and Cor with him." She grinned.

Iris nodded. "And they were totally with him, too. They were gonna beat the heck outta them, until Ravus told us they wanted to help." She looked at Prompto and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't blame you for not trusting them, though."

Scratching a hand through his hair, Gladio huffed a sigh. "I don't _trust_ 'em? But I don't think they're here to fuck us up, Prompto." He turned to glance at Ignis, where he stood away from the rest of the group, under an awning, reading that journal again. Sighing again, Gladio turned to look at the rest of them. "I know Ravus pretty well. I know when he's lyin'. And he's not this time. Whatever they're here for? It's not to hurt us."

"I think they need our help." Noctis' voice was quiet, almost drowned out by the rain, but it was clearly loud enough to catch the attention of all of his friends, because they all looked at him in question. "I know. It sounds insane. But think about it. They said that Verstael's been weird with Loqi lately. Maybe they feel like they're in danger, and they, y'know, needed to hide with a group. Or something." Or maybe Noctis was completely off base. That was possible, too.

Gladio, though, didn't seem to think he was. "Yeah. I think so, too. It's just the two of them otherwise," he pointed out.

With a nod, Prompto glanced over at Loqi. "I..." he paused, looking at Gladio, Iris, Noctis, and Crowe, then pulled in a deep breath. "I want to help them. I know... I know Ravus did what he did. And I know Loqi's... I know Loqi hates me. Or whatever. I know he's not my real brother. But once upon a time, he _didn't_ hate me. Maybe..."

"Maybe you can be _like_ real brothers?" Noctis asked, his tone gentle.

Even with the rain pattering against his skin, Noctis could see the red as it rose to Prompto's cheeks. He nodded once, dismally. "I know it's stupid."

There was a weird expression on Iris' face when she reached out to hug Prompto. Like she knew something that Noctis and Prompto didn't. Crowe, too, was looking at them knowingly. Gladio just scratched the back of his neck, looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact with Prompto. Iris, though, hugged him gently, and said, "it's not stupid, Prompto. Not even a little," in a reassuring tone.

Noctis nodded his agreement with Iris. "Makes sense, honestly. Gladio's my brother, even though we're not related by blood. Right, Big Guy?" He punched Gladio gently in the shoulder.

Except, Gladio still looked a little bit secretive. Finally, he turned to look back at Noctis with a little smirk on his face, and nodded his head. "Unfortunately," he teased. "People who, uh... aren't related by blood, can be family. This whole group of idiots is like that." He snorted a laugh.

Draping his arm over Prompto's shoulders, Gladio pulled him into a hug and immediately started regaling him with stories about how weird of a family they were. In the peace that the moment offered, Noctis found his eyes wandering over to Ignis again. All of this research was starting to take its toll. Ignis, still sporting a pair of wrist braces thanks to the injuries caused by Gladio's daemon self, looked singularly focused on that damn journal. If it wasn't the journal, it was the notebooks. If it wasn't the notebooks, according to the others, it was his own notes that he'd taken _from_ the journal and the notebooks. Noctis knew that he took his role as strategist and researcher seriously. With Loqi's apparent change of sides, though, wouldn't it have been helpful to have a perspective from someone who knew at least _something_ about the research Verstael was doing?

Even if Ignis didn't think it would, Noctis was almost sure of it. No, he didn't exactly trust Loqi or anything. It wasn't like they couldn't cross check what he told them against what they already knew, though, right? A second pair of eyes, and one that was willing to help, could keep him from working himself into an early grave on this.

Just as Noctis was about to head that way and suggest just that, though, Luna called out to them. "There," she announced, her voice loud enough to carry over the rest of them. "I sense the spike and it's over there, on that island."

Noctis turned in the direction Luna pointed, squinting against the blur created by the rain to look in the direction she pointed. Across a short expanse of ocean, Noctis spotted the dark silhouette of an island. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. It was probably large enough to fit the compound, if the compound was mobile like that. Maybe a little bit bigger. He turned back toward Luna, just in time to see her lean all of her weight against Nyx.

"Carry her, Ulric," Ravus commanded of Nyx, in a derisive and snapping tone. "Or do you expect her to-"

Luna shook her head no and turned a sharp glare on Ravus. "I hardly expect to be carried from place to place, Ravus. Had you been a part of the group for the past few years, you would know that I am perfectly capable of getting from point A to point B on my own." She pushed up to support her own weight, and pushed a smattering of rain-soaked hair from her face.

Blinking, Ravus backed up a step. "Lunafreya, I-"

"I would thank you to treat Nyx with more respect. He has done absolutely nothing to you, and yet you treat him as though he is some kind of common criminal. If you and Loqi are to be a part of this team, then you should be willing to treat _each_ of us with the same respect as any of the others."

Nyx placed a hand on Luna's arm. "Luna, it's okay," he insisted.

She shook her head, though. "It most certainly is not. I grow tired of the pair of you arguing over me like I am a child who needs to be protected. Yes. I am ill. No, we do not know why. That, however, does not give the two most important men in my life the right to bicker like a pair of schoolchildren over who has the right to protect me. I will not have the pair of you fighting and putting the rest of the team, let alone yourselves, in danger." Stepping forward, she glanced up at Cor and Weskham. "The spike is located. What is the next step?"

Blinking in surprise at the way Luna had just said her piece and closed the topic for discussion, Cor cleared his throat and glanced over at the pier. "We spoke to a few of the hunters in the area, and they have a ferry that they used to get to the islands when infestations hit." He pointed over at the ferry; far too nice for its sole purpose to be running hunters out to islands.

It didn't matter. That was what it was for tonight.

The group of them stepped out into the torrential downpour and headed toward it—it took a slight nudge from Gladio, during which Ignis only just barely looked up from the journal, to get Ignis moving—and piled on. The rain, it seemed, was what finally convinced Ignis to close the journal and slide it into his coat. This was the most time Noctis had seen Ignis without some kind of research in his hands for the past month or so, and honestly, he found himself all the more worried. Luna held his attention, the pair of them pointedly ignoring the people that they likely would have been talking to the most. Well, Luna ignored Nyx and Ravus. Every now and then, though, Noctis would catch Ignis casting sad looks Gladio's way. Whatever this fight was, it was obvious that they both wanted it over. So, why didn't they just put an end to it?

With that frustrating thought in his mind, he cast a glance out at the rest of his friends. Nyx and Gladio looked a little bit lost at the moment, talking among themselves while Ravus looked for consolation from Loqi. A pretty amusing thought, since Loqi didn't know the first thing about being a sibling, as far as Noctis knew. Crowe and Iris looked just as worried and annoyed by all of this as Noctis was, and Aranea and Cindy were too busy casting glares at Loqi and Ravus to worry about anything going on with the others. It made sense, honestly. That was where their grudge was really at. They were looking out for Prompto.

As soon as the thought of his best friend entered his mind, Noctis turned to glance at him. Prompto stood at the starboard edge of the boat and stared at the island nervously, and Noctis stepped up beside him. The rain had his hair sticking to his head again, and Noctis barely stifled a gentle chuckle at the thought that this was the _second_ change of clothes that they'd rain-soaked today.

"Should've brought an umbrella," Noctis opened the conversation, leaning against the railing that looked over the edge of the ferry and glancing down at his reflection.

Prompto chuckled gently and shrugged his head to the side. "It wouldn't have done much good," he answered, looking down into the water alongside Noctis.

Honestly, water pattered down so hard into the ocean that Noctis couldn't even see their reflection. He could make out bits of it, but it was too rippled and distorted for him to really see. Noctis sighed and looked sidelong at Prompto. "Guess not. We can't really fight with umbrellas in our hands, huh?" he asked. "You okay? With Loqi here?"

The lack of immediate answer was more of an answer than any actual words could have been. Noctis heard Prompto sigh a soft note, then turn his head to glance at where his brother stood with Ravus. "Yes, but no. It's like... I know it's Loqi. It's... _Loqi_. He's the same person who's made my life miserable for as long as I can remember. But I... it feels different, too. He hasn't even spoken to me, Noct. Not a single comment about how much of a defect I am, or how I mess up everything I do. Or how I should be dead or something. Most of the time, he can't be in the room without saying something like that..." he murmured.

"Maybe Aranea-"

Prompto shook his head. "No." He stopped and chuckled a humorless laugh. "Well... yeah. She probably did. But... but I think it's more than that, too. Like, every now and then, I see him looking at me, Noct. Not glaring like he used to. Not mad. Not... happy or anything, but it almost looks like... like he's sorry? I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe this is the same thing that made me wish that my dad would change his mind or something. M-maybe I'm just pathetic..." He laughed a self-deprecating note.

But Noctis shook his head no. "I don't think it's pathetic, Prom... wanting to connect with your family. Blood or not, you've spent your whole life calling him your brother, right? So... it makes sense." He pushed some of Prompto's hair from his face. "I mean, I'd give anything to learn that I still had blood family out there."

With wide eyes, Prompto turned to look at Noctis. "Noct, I... I didn't mean to make a big deal out of this family thing when you-"

"Hey, hey no!" Noctis shook his head no, flashing Prompto a gentle smile. "No, that's not what I was getting at. Not even a little," he reassured his friend. "What I wanted to say was... if you do decide you want to talk to him? Let me know, okay? I'll come with you. Make sure he doesn't get away with saying anything too bad or something."

The smile came back. "Thanks," Prompto agreed bashfully, turning to look down at the water again.

Shrugging his shoulders, Noctis reminded Prompto, "besides, I was just telling you this earlier, remember? Blood or not, I have a pretty big family. I do miss my parents and everything? But it's not like I'm alone. I've got them. And... and I've got you." He turned to look away from Prompto bashfully, his eyes on the water.

Prompto's reply of, "yeah, you're pretty much stuck with me at this point," made Noctis smile more than it had any right to.

"Can't complain about being stuck if you're part of the sticking process, can you?" Noctis asked, giving Prompto a gentle nudge to his good shoulder.

Before the conversation could continue, the ferry came to a stop. The captain came over the loudspeaker, delivering a message to them, explaining that he was planning on dropping them off at shore and then laying anchor a few hundred feet out into the water, once they were all out. It was probably safer, honestly. If this island was as rife with daemons as Luna said it was, which Noctis had no reason to doubt, it wasn't a good place for any boat to dock. With that decided, the group of them filed across the plank and onto the wet sand that composed the beach.

The island, or at least what Noctis could see of it with the rain obscuring his vision, was composed of mostly forest. Fighting daemons in forests was one of Noctis' least favorite things. Fighting daemons, in general, was one of his least favorite things, but when it came to fighting them in forests, there were too many places for them to hide and not enough good vantage points. Daemons could always hide behind trees or show up in places that no one could even anticipate.

Luna, Cor, and Weskham stayed in relative safety near the beach, but everyone else trudged on, trying as best they could to shield themselves from the torrential downpour. It was a little bit better once they hit the treeline. They were still hit with drops from the trees, and bits of rain that managed to drip through empty spots in the trees, but it was significantly less now. Of course, because of that, Noctis was now realizing exactly how cold it was. A few feet to his right, Prompto shivered, and Noctis closed the space between them just slightly, wishing that he could offer some of his own warmth. Prompto's crutches made it hard, though.

Whether he could have or not, though, it ended up not mattering. The first enemy they saw took Noctis by complete surprise. It wasn't a daemon. Or, it was, but it also wasn't. Another daemonized animal stood before them, a coeurl this time. Coeurl were ferocious on their own. They were capable of killing effortlessly, not only with their teeth and claws, but with their charged whiskers. Daemonizing one? Suddenly, Noctis was on high alert, his hand going to his sword. At his side, he saw Prompto dropping his crutches, putting weight on his injured knee for the first time in a month. Noctis wanted to stop him, but he knew that there was a lot of stance involved in firing his pistols, and he needed both legs mobile to do that. Later, Noctis would make sure that he stayed off it for the rest of the night. That he rested. And he hoped beyond all reason that Prompto didn't end up getting hurt even worse.

However, when he turned to look back at the coeurl, he realized how unrealistic that was. From the shadows of the forest came not one, not two, not five, but eight more daemonized coeurl.

"More daemonized animals," Gladio grunted from the front of the group, his hand going for his sword. "What the hell is Besithia trying to accomplish here?"

Nyx shrugged. "No clue," he answered. "Whatever it is, though? It's not good."

From a few feet in front of him, Loqi laughed a hollow note. "No shit," he answered, reaching into a large backpack and setting a piece of metal on the ground. It was one foot in diameter, and when he pressed a button on the top of it, it floated up into the air and displayed a pair of tiny guns on its front. At first, he wasn't sure exactly what it was, but as it floated around Loqi's head, he realized. A fighting drone. Loqi himself pulled out a small sub-machine gun, and checked it over to make sure it was ready to fire.

"Less talking, more fighting," Aranea told them. "Ignis? Plan of attack?"

No immediate answer came from Ignis, and Noctis turned to look at him. To say that he was surprised by what he saw was a tragic understatement. Ignis stared ahead at the coeurl, his eyes wide with shock. He held his daggers in his hands like he was ready to strike, but like he hadn't actually _thought_ of a plan of attack. He blinked hard, his eyes moving from the coeurl to look out at the team, and shook his head.

When he spoke, his voice was shaky; uncertain. "I... I'm not sure..."

At first, when a matching voice echoed through the forest around them and spoke—its tone parroting, but also taunting Ignis' tone—Noctis didn't know where it was coming from. "I... I'm not sure..." It chided, echoing from somewhere above them.

Noctis had been through this enough times to know exactly what was going on. His eyes shot upward, looking for where the sound was coming from, and when he finally found the source, he was equal parts surprised and not. Dressed from head to toe in the same exact clothes Ignis wore, looking almost exactly the part of Ignis, save for red eyes and a malicious smile, was Ignis' daemon self. That wasn't the surprising part, though. Sitting right next to him, a couple of feet to his right, was _another_ daemon self. Noctis couldn't make out the silhouette; it was enshrouded slightly in the leaves of the tree they sat in, but it looked distinctly female.

"It's quite amusing, isn't it?" Ignis' daemon self spoke to its compatriot. "Smart as I am, I can't come up with a battle strategy against a simple group of coeurl? What good is a strategist without his strategies?"

A second familiar voice, as malicious as its original owner was kind, spoke up. "How the mighty have fallen," she spoke. And now, there was absolutely no mistaking who the secondary daemon self belonged to. The daemon sounded just like Luna, and now that he was looking, he could see that the flats and leggings that she wore were exactly what Luna was wearing as well.

Before Noctis could even think too hard on that, though, the female daemon jumped down from the tree branch, landing in a superhero stance in front of Nyx. "Hello, darling," she smirked as she stood. "And you too, dear brother."

Noctis had never really seen Nyx this shaken before. Even when facing down his own daemon self, it wasn't this bad. Seeing this version of Luna, though, right before his eyes as she was, had him backing up a couple of steps in horror. Ravus, too, looked similarly shaken. He gaped at Luna with wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth several times like he was _trying_ to think of something to say to this daemon version of his sister. Nothing ever came out, though.

Daemon Luna sighed, glancing up into the tree at daemon Ignis. "You have this lot handled, right, dear friend? I've a date with myself and I would rather not be late."

"No!" Ravus finally shouted, and both he and Nyx moved forward at once, to try and stop Luna's daemon self from being able to move.

From the tree, though, daemon Ignis threw down a dagger, narrowly missing striking Ravus in the head, and forcing both Nyx and Ravus to halt their pursuit. "Of course." He jumped from the tree, landing right next to where Luna landed, and shouldering both Ravus and Nyx away. "Do ensure that her guardians don't find their way back here? I should expect that this lot will provide sufficient challenge without their assistance."

The laugh that daemon Luna gave was incredibly sinister as she nodded her head, and then turned to dash away. Crowe stepped forward next, blocking her path with a determined expression on her face, but before Crowe could even lift her staff to charge up a magic blast, daemon Luna struck out with an ice covered fist, knocking her to the ground. "Nice try, but there is no way a princess can topple the queen." She glanced over everyone else, then delivered a mock salute with two fingers to her forehead. "Ta!"

For two seconds, Noctis stood dumbstruck. Had the Luna daemon hit Crowe with an ice fist? Crowe struggled to pull herself to her feet, sporting a fresh bloody lip and a bright red mark on her face, and looked around for daemon Luna. "Wh-where'd she go?"

"That way." Iris, who was at Crowe's side and trying to pull her to her feet, pointed in the direction that daemon Luna went.

Toward the shore. Toward Luna.

Noctis didn't need to be told twice how bad that was. Luna was alone with Cor and Weskham, and the daemon would tear the three of them apart with ease. Noctis looked to the sky, cried, "Bahamut! Come to me!" and instantly, when the dragon appeared in his vision, climbed onto its back to go and help the others. Vaguely, he heard Nyx calling for his aeon as well. That was the last thing he heard, though, before Bahamut started weaving through the trees at mach speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AW YEAH, IT'S TIME, FRIENDS.


	7. Hydro

Noctis had disappeared on Bahamut to follow Luna's daemon self, and Prompto watched as Nyx followed close behind. Ravus tried to follow as well, but before he could even take a single step, one of the coeurl that stood around Ignis' daemon self leaped forward and blocked his path. A bellowing growl filled the air, and the daemonized cat charged its whiskers up, ready to strike Ravus with all of the force its electricity could offer. Ravus dove out of the way, narrowly missing the whiskers' impact on the ground, and Prompto sucked in a sharp breath. That was close.

Ravus was okay, though, and pulling himself from the ground. Several feet away from him, Ignis stood, simply staring blankly at his daemon self. The red-eyed version of Ignis stared at Ravus for a second, before turning to his human counterpart with a snakelike smile on his face.

"Still speechless, are we?" it asked him. "I can't say I'm surprised. Your capabilities have been far lacking lately."

With an angry grunt, Prompto heard the familiar sound of Gladio calling upon Titan. The floating golem appeared from the ground, and surged forward, making a desperate attempt to defend Ignis. It responded to Gladio's wishes, clearly, but before it had a chance to connect with any sort of attack, the Ignis daemon leaped out of the way and back out of danger. Turning to Gladio, the daemon huffed a short laugh.

"Tsk. Gladiolus, one would expect that you would know me to be far too quick to fall for that, no?" Casually, the daemon leaned back against the trunk of a nearby tree and ordered one of the coeurl forward, toward Gladio. "Now, if you don't mind, keep my pet entertained, while I converse with myself here."

Gladio barely had time to react, before the coeurl lunged and tried to pummel him to the ground, and Prompto blinked in horror, before focusing his energy and shouting, "please, Carbuncle! I need your help!"

The warm feeling of summoning overcame him as usual, and then small fox appeared in front of him, instantly training in on where the coeurl was coming back for another swipe on Gladio. It and Titan worked together, attacking it with a beam of light and a medium sized stone throw, sending the beast several feet away and getting Gladio out of immediate danger. Ravus, too, called forth the hulking statue that was Alexander, and the monstrous aeon tried to focus on the coeurl that was keeping him from going to aid Luna. The coeurl wouldn't let him, though, instead focusing its attention toward Loqi. That managed to catch both Prompto and Ravus' attention, and then two beams of light focused on that particular coeurl, staggering it for a moment. Another of the daemonized cats advanced on Aranea and Cindy, and Prompto realized that without aeons, they would be in big trouble. He focused Carbuncle's attention on that enemy instead, firing a couple of rounds in its shoulder as well.

As they—and the others _without_ aeons—tried to combat this new threat, the daemon version of Ignis heaved a dramatic and mocking sigh as it took slow, almost parade-like steps toward Ignis. "And this is what happens when we don't come up with a strategy. We carry the weight of everyone around us day after day after _day_ , and the _one_ time we don't manage to do it? They're barely able to form a comprehensible fighting force."

"That's-"

The daemon tilted its head to the side, cutting Ignis' defense off with a tilt of its head. "That's what? Wrong? Untrue? How can you claim that with a straight face? Look around you, me.  This is all because you aren't smart enough."

Prompto shook his head no, a vehement refusal to let Ignis fall prey to what the daemon was trying to accomplish. "Don't listen to it, Ignis!" he called out, internally willing Carbuncle not to take its attention from the coeurl that Aranea and Cindy were trying to fend off.

"Shut up," the Ignis daemon taunted. "I don't want to hear _anything_ from someone whose father is the whole reason this mess is happening!" The daemon threw a dagger at Prompto, which Alexander reached down and blocked with a gigantic metallic hand.

Still, Prompto stood there for a couple of seconds, completely stunned. Ignis turned toward him, shaking his head in a frantic motion. "No, no that's not true. Prompto. I-it-"

The daemon sighed another dramatic note. "Always looking out for everyone but you," it chided, balling its hand into a fist and backhand punching Ignis in the face. The momentum knocked his glasses off and to the ground, alongside making him lose his balance on an already-injured knee and crumple to the ground like a dropped rag doll.

Iris and Gladio closed in on the daemon, trying to take it by surprise, but it caught on, darting backward and making an inhuman leap to get back up to its place in the tree. "Now, now. As aware as I am that you Amicitia are a brutish brood, I'd always assumed that there was _some_ intellect hiding in there. Pity. Seems like it's simply another thing that the other me is left in the dark about." The daemon turned its gaze on Ignis again. "Isn't that right, me?"

Slowly but surely, Ignis pushed himself up on sore wrists until he was sitting up. Coughing a little bit, mud and grass sputtering out of his mouth, he gasped a sharp and heavy breath. "Stop," he commanded, though it sounded more like a desperate plea of a broken man than an actual command.

Prompto found himself unable to stave off even more concern. "I-Ignis, you... it's okay! You can't let it get to you like this! You're-"

"I thought I told you to shut _up_!" the daemon spat, leaping down from the tree and coming to a stop in front of Prompto again. "Give me _one good reason_ that I shouldn't just grind you into a pulp right now?" With speed that Prompto couldn't match with an injured shoulder and knee, the daemon gathered the dagger it had thrown at Prompto moments ago from the ground and pressed it tight to Prompto's throat.

In an equally swift movement, it knocked the gun from Prompto's hand and pressed hard upon his sore shoulder until he cried out in agony and dropped the second pistol to the cold, wet, ground. It got in his face and grinned wildly, wordlessly demanding an answer to its question. Daemon breath, Prompto realized, smelled sickeningly sweet. Like honey mixed with sugar and melted over caramel, or something like that. As his heart hammered in his chest and the cold metal of the daemon's blade pressed to his throat—it was too cold to be simple metal, he noticed; there was something else there, too—he tried to gather his brain enough to come up with something that could potentially dissuade the daemon from slitting his throat. When nothing came to him, instead he thought a desperate internal apology to Noctis for leaving him the same way everyone else seemed to leave him, and tensed in anticipation for a painful death.

The next voice to speak up surprised Prompto more than anyone else's would have. "Got you covered, Argentum," Loqi called out. "One good reason, huh? Yeah, I got one."

It distracted the daemon, which had completely abandoned its pursuit of Prompto now. The blade dropped, and it pushed Prompto to the ground. After Prompto writhed on the ground in pain for a few moments, the injury to his shoulder aching all over again, the first thing he saw when he regained his composure was the daemon turning toward Loqi and narrowing its eyes expectantly.

"Lend me your blade, Odin!" Loqi called out into the sky.

A purple sigil, just like Noctis', appeared beneath Loqi's feet. From behind Loqi, seeming to appear from nowhere, came a large man clad in black armor, riding a monstrous black horse and carrying a large sword and shield. The aeon shot a mass of purple energy—the same shade of purple as Noctis' aeon's purple mist—and it impacted with both the daemon version of Ignis and a nearby coeurl, sending them to the ground in a heap.

Finally, Prompto could assess the damage.  Instead of a slit throat, all that had come of the situation was a superficial nick of the skin on Prompto's neck. Way, way better than what the daemon had planned, but still surprising. Prompto's hand came back with a small stripe of blood on it, and he could feel the stickiness of more blood dripping along his neck. It was then that he realized how close he'd come to death. His shoulder still ached, both from the daemon's press against it and from the impact of being pushed to the ground, but he was alive. Loqi looked stunned, almost relieved when Prompto sat up again, and he crossed the distance between them, reaching his hand down to help Prompto up.

"C'mon! Get up!" Loqi commanded.

Surprise and relief culminated, and Prompto raised a shaking hand up to grasp Loqi's, struggling a bit to stand as Loqi helped him up. He was even more surprised when Loqi gathered his pistols from the ground and handed them back to Prompto. "Uh... th-thanks..." he stammered.

Loqi shook his head. "Thank me later," he replied. "We gotta help take care of this daemon first, since Scientia isn't doing anything more than standing there like a slack-jawed idiot. You with me?"

When Prompto turned, he noticed that Loqi was; well... not _right_ , but close. Ignis stood several feet away from the battle in the same spot he'd been since they got there, staring at the whole situation in wide-eyed horror. It made sense. Prompto had felt much the same when he'd faced down his own daemon self. And his wasn't even this bad. His daemon self, and Luna's daemon self, surrounded by eight daemonized coeurl? It was pretty bad news. Prompto turned to Loqi and nodded his head.

"Um... y-yeah, Loqi. I'm with you..." he spoke, the words sounding foreign as they escaped his lips.

At some point in the chaos, Ravus had moved over to stand in front of Ignis and try to snap him out of the stupor he was in. "Scientia! Come now! We need you! I'm a tactician, but I'm hardly as skilled as you are, so if you would kindly _collect your mind_ and help us dispatch this menace so we can go help Caelum and Ulric? It would be-"

Daemon Ignis laughed aloud as it sped through where Prompto and Loqi stood, separating them with a shove to each and sending them to the ground. It stopped in front of Ravus, who struck out with his sword and with a punch from Alexander—a pair of attacks that the daemon dodged easily—and flashed him a malicious smile.

"You. Of all people. You know, you really _are_ making this too easy," the daemon chided, leaping out of the way of another pair of attacks from Odin and Carbuncle this time. It was fast. Extremely fast. It made sense, because Ignis was pretty fast too, when he was at his best. Naturally, his daemon self would be fast, too.

The daemon ordered all eight coeurl to attack with a wave of its hand, and suddenly, the group was in pretty big trouble. In the distraction it created, it spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Only the strategist until you can't compose your brain enough to come up with a coherent _sentence_ , let alone a strategy. Right? No _wonder_ you were Amicitia's second choice. You know as well as I do, this whole time that you've been on the outs, he's been wishing that he'd never dumped Nox Fleuret for you. And now we see why, don't we? Can't even come up with a way to keep _everyone here_ from dying."

Titan, reading Gladio's intent as aeons were known to do, threw a stone at Ignis' daemon self. "Bullshit!" Gladio shouted. "That's complete bullshit and-"

"Now, now, dear heart," the daemon spoke to Gladio, more the way a parent would speak to their child than the way a lover would speak to another lover. "Have we not learned that I can always tell when you're lying? You miss Nox Fleuret, do you not?"

Gladio laughed a soft note. "Hell no!" After a pause, he snorted another laugh and looked at Ravus. "No offense, man. Or full offense. You decide," he joked.

A humorless chuckle was Ravus' only response. "No offense taken, believe me."

Ignis' daemon self responded with a chiding click of its teeth. "Tsk, tsk, Amicitia. One would think that you knew better than to lie to me, but no. Once again, you've proven yourself every bit as inept at socialization as you are at romance. Right, me?" the daemon turned its attention to Ignis now, smiling a wicked smile.

"N-no," was the only response Ignis gave.

The daemon sighed, reaching down and grabbing Ignis by the unkempt collar of his shirt. "Is that so? Because it seems to me that if he cared for you—if _any_ of these people cared for you—they would be able to convince you to put the damned research down for a moment." A pause, and a moment of faux-realization later, and the daemon looked down at Ignis, its smile growing by double. It thrust him back, pinning him to the trunk of a nearby tree. "Ah! I see. It's not _they_ that don't care for _you_. No, no. It's _you_ who doesn't care for _them_ , isn't it? Everyone is miserable, worrying over you and trying to get you to care about yourself, to care about _anything_ other than these damned journals, this damned research, but it's _all_ you care about. Selfish Ignis, wanting to be the smart one. You have to get it before everyone else does, don't you?"

Ignis struggled against the daemon's grip, a tiny bit of fight finally awakened in him. "N-no! No, I... I have to find the answers, but... but it's for _them_!" he spoke through gritted teeth. "It's _all_ for-"

"Is it, though? Or is it-"

Prompto, who dove desperately out of the way of a charged whisker attack from the coeurl that he and Loqi were fighting, looked up just in time to see Gladio charge at Ignis' daemon self, full speed. He struck out with his shield, knocking the daemon aside and away from Ignis. "Shut _up_!" he commanded. "Igs. Igs, I know it's hard. I know. I get it. But, you gotta... you gotta try and think straight, okay? We need you. _I_ need you to-"

The daemon was on its feet again, though, and it pummeled Gladio to the ground. Gladio lost Titan's support along with his focus, and the giant golem disappeared into the rainy night behind him. With a twisted smile, the Ignis daemon hummed a soft note, pinning Gladio in place by the throat with one hand, and then reaching for one of its daggers with the other. "I'm going to enjoy this," it purred into Gladio's ear. "Make the other me watch me kill you, and _completely_ drain the fight from him, before I kill him, too."

Ignis was on his feet, running as quickly as he could with his sore knee, to get to Gladio. "No!" he shouted, hauling back with one of his own daggers and plunging it into the daemon's shoulder.

Unfortunately, it had no effect, other than to make the daemon angrily throw its arm back and connect with Ignis' injured knee, sending him to the ground in a heap. It tore the dagger from its shoulder with its free hand, looked it over, and chuckled softly. "Even better. I'll use his own dagger. A gift from you, Amicitia, were they not? What kind of lover gives a pair of _daggers_ as an anniversary gift?" It released Gladio's throat, long enough to allow Gladio a gasp of air, before pressing down again.

Iris, too, rushed over to try and pull the daemon from Gladio. The daemon simply laughed, slicing at her with Ignis' dagger and forcing her to jump back. "Before you die, I feel I should let you know. That me? The lesser one? Hasn't slept in _three days_. You're such a failure; you failed so strongly, that you couldn't keep him from almost _literally_ researching himself to death. You, too." It was turning over its shoulder now, facing Iris. "Some 'family' the lot of you make!"

Honestly, at the moment, Prompto wanted nothing more than to hurry over and help them. The most he could do, though, with the coeurl attacking him and Loqi as it was, was fight for his life and throw the occasional shot out at a coeurl that got too close to their friends. The beasts were almost as fast as Ignis' daemon self, though, which made it all the more difficult. He did manage to fire another warning shot, to get the daemon to loosen its grip on Gladio's throat and allow him another desperate and gasping breath, before the coeurl lunged at him, and Loqi barely managed to stop it from pummeling Prompto to the ground.

In the panic, Prompto managed to catch a glimpse of Ignis, who was struggling to pull himself to his feet. Exhaustion combined with pain likely made that all the more difficult, though, and his sore knee gave out underneath him again, sending him back into a heap on the ground. He made a second attempt to pick himself up, but he fell down again, and let out a choked sob.

"Stop!" Iris screamed, a plea to Ignis' daemon self. "P-please! Please don't kill him!" She grabbed the daemon by each shoulder and yanked backward, a desperate attempt to pull it away from her brother. It didn't respond immediately, and rather than try to plead again, she hauled back and kicked the daemon in the rib cage with all of her strength.

The daemon grunted in frustration, releasing Gladio's throat and pushing out with that hand to shove Iris to the ground, while Gladio hacked and choked for air. "I've had about enough of you! You're next. Before... before _me_." And then, it turned its attention back to Gladio.

But that was when it happened.

In the scramble taking place around Gladio and Ignis' daemon self, it seemed as though Ignis was getting lost in the shuffle. His choked sobs quieted, and in between the first worried look that Prompto cast in Ignis' direction and the second, Ignis went from lying in a sobbing heap on the ground, to kneeling on one knee. The devastated, resigned look in his eyes changed then, replaced instead with an angry fire that matched his name.

"Leviathan," Ignis murmured, his voice a low rumble that matched the fury in his eyes, "turn the tides!"

Everything happened so quickly that Prompto wasn't even sure what to expect. He knew that aeons usually came alongside daemon selves. That was how the pattern had gone so far. The unexpected part, though, was the impressive flourish that Ignis' aeon appeared in. A tornado of water, large and swirling faster than Prompto had ever seen water move before, appeared behind Ignis. It almost looked like it was picking the rain up around it, adding to the tornado and making it grow more and more. Coiling around in the huge waterspout was a water serpent; Prompto reasoned that it must have been Leviathan. Ignis' aeon.

Honestly, Prompto wasn't even surprised by someone else in the group getting an aeon anymore.

What _was_ surprising, was the size of the waterspout. The spout was so large that it was beginning to collect branches of trees and small rocks from the ground. It caught the attention of Ignis' daemon self, causing it to completely release its hold on Gladio's throat and allowing Iris the chance to push it off of Gladio fully. Everyone in the area, daemon, human, and aeon, stared up at the swirling mass of water as it started to crest at the top.

"Cover..." Prompto murmured at first, his voice a little bit meek. "We need to find cover!"

Of course, finding cover in a forest like this was really unlikely. It didn't matter anyway. They'd run out of time on that particular clock, because the very second Prompto shouted his warning, the water in the typhoon started coming down. It didn't just come down in a rain. It all came down at once, knocking absolutely everyone standing in its wake to the ground. Prompto lost his footing as soon as the torrent hit him, and the water's momentum sent him back a couple of yards. He grabbed a tree to stop him from being washed back any further, pain in his shoulder be damned. And there was a lot of it.

The water finally stopped, soaking into the already rain-soaked ground, and all Prompto could do in its wake was sputter and cough. There was water up his nose, in his throat, and the echoing cacophony of similar coughing noises told him that pretty much everyone—even the daemon coeurl—were feeling about the same way. Branches and small rocks rained down around them, and Prompto was endlessly glad that for the most part, they managed to avoid everyone. He was pretty sure he heard Loqi curse about a rock hitting him on the head, but if he was okay enough to complain, it couldn't have been that bad. Right?

Ignis, too, was on the ground, but he got up significantly faster than before. It was obvious that he was still tired, still in pain, but the strength that his aeon gave him picked him up. The rush of the first summon was weird like that. Prompto remembered witnessing Noctis', how it took him from the brink of death, to easily being able to fend off a torrent of daemons. He remembered feeling his own, remembered Gladio and Nyx talking about theirs, too, and imagined that Ignis was feeling the same. At the moment, Prompto could almost feel the energy coming off of Ignis in waves. Leviathan coiled a liquid tendril up, wrapping tightly around the daemon's arms and holding it tightly in place.

The coeurl still tried to recover, and maybe everyone should have been more focused on taking them out while they were down, but everyone seemed to be stunned; completely entranced, watching Ignis and Leviathan now that they were on the attack. Gladio tried to watch, but he was still rolled on his side, gasping for breath and coughing up water. Iris was at his side, trying to help him get it out of his system... but still watching Ignis from the corner of her eye.

Somehow, a tendril of water was managing to keep the daemon version of Ignis locked in place. Prompto saw Ignis' analytical eyes watching the situation, the strength from his aeon bolstering him just slightly and bringing him a little closer to his old self. "The only thing that can defeat daemon selves is the strength of their aeon," he established aloud, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

Leviathan's tendril of water curled up higher and higher, wrapping around the daemon's throat and holding its head in place. Prompto watched in surprise as the tendril wrapped tighter and tighter around daemon Ignis' throat, and the serpent itself floated around the Ignis daemon, examining it carefully. "Carbuncle defeated Prompto's daemon self. Titan defeated Gladio's. Phoenix defeated Nyx's. And now? Leviathan is going to destroy you."

Daemon Ignis, constricted but otherwise unfazed by the tendrils wrapped around its body and throat, chuckled a soft note. "I must admit, I'm almost impressed," the daemon taunted. "However, you seem to be forgetting one crucial detail. Daemons don't breathe. You can not strangle me." It smiled confidently.

The smirk on Ignis' face, however, was far more confident, far more certain than the daemon's. "I'm fully aware," he nodded his head. "However, holding your head in place makes it significantly easier to do this."

As soon as Ignis finished speaking, Leviathan swooped down, opening its jaws wide and clamping them down on the daemon's head. It let out a last noise, a sharp gasp of surprise, before dissipating into a dark puff of daemon smoke. Ignis stood in place, his chest rising and falling with hard and heavy breath, before teetering on his feet and falling to the ground in a heap. Gladio crawled across the ground, stopping at Ignis' side and making a panicked check for vital signs. Then, he collapsed over him and shook with convulsive sobs. Admittedly, it was pretty jarring to see Gladio cry. It didn't seem like something that happened often. This, though? Yeah. It made perfect sense.

Iris was at his side, too, and with the three of them momentarily unable to help diffuse the rest of the situation, the fact that the eight coeurl still stood was a far worse problem than before. Especially since most of them were still trying to pull themselves to their feet after the tidal wave that Leviathan had created. Carbuncle, Titan, Alexander, and Odin had all disappeared when the water had crashed down, so the situation was all the worse.

As Prompto tried to scramble to his feet, one of the daemonized coeurl pounced, knocking him to his back on the ground before he could call Carbuncle to help him, and shrieking in his face. Loqi tried, from a couple of feet away, to dissuade it with shots from his machine guns and his drone, but it didn't do any good. The coeurl was going to kill him. Prompto was going to die. Except before it could get close enough to bite him, an unfamiliar streak of ice magic stabbed it right through the shoulder and it screeched into the night and recoiled...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not to worry, I'll explain what happened on Luna's end next chapter! ♥


	8. Glacier

As soon as Noctis spotted the others on the beach, he realized exactly how bad the situation was. Cor and Weskham stood protectively in front of Luna, who stared wide-eyed at her daemon self, with her mouth hanging open as the malicious daemon approached her. Weskham had both of his pistols aimed and ready to shoot the daemon, while Cor had his sword out and aimed forward at it. They projected confidence, but honestly Noctis was nervous as all hell. They couldn't fend off a daemonized version of Luna; especially not one that had brushed Crowe aside like she was just a rag doll.

For a second, Noctis wondered if he should have taken off like he had, but they had more people there, and Luna, Cor, and Weskham would desperately need the help.

Bahamut soared down, coming to a stop between daemon Luna and the others, and Noctis climbed from his back, blinking as Bahamut immediately took to the sky, flying around the daemon and raining the purple mist attack over it. "Back off, fake," Noctis seethed at the daemon, pointing his sword at it.

The daemon huffed a disapproving noise and slid back, escaping Bahamut's mist and charging up an ice blast in her hands to fire at Noctis' aeon. Ice shot from the daemon's hands like a laser, blasting Bahamut back and sending him to the ground. It was the first time he'd seen an aeon fall, let alone his aeon, and while it didn't really feel like he'd been _physically_ stricken, it still felt kind of like an attack. An emotional attack, maybe. Noctis recoiled, but allowed himself the slightest bit of relief when Bahamut got back up. He wasn't sure if aeons could die, but he was glad that Bahamut hadn't.

Daemon Luna's attention was on him now. "Now, now, Noctis. I would have thought that your place was back at the side of your beloved, hm? Rather than wasting your time here, helping the helpless? You can ask her," it pointed at Luna, "it seems like they're having a bit of trouble with my bespectacled compatriot."

Against his volition, Noctis found his eyes drifting toward where he'd left the others. Visibility was pretty bad, at least beyond where he caught sight of Nyx approaching. Without two of the group's aeons, it probably wasn't a false claim. They probably _were_ having trouble. Even so, Noctis shook his head no and turned to look back at daemon Luna.

"They'll be fine. They... they don't need us, and-"

Before he could finish, Phoenix swooped down and fired a steady stream of fire at Luna's daemon self. The daemon jumped back, before firing a stream of ice magic at the bird. Phoenix dodged out of the way, flying low enough for Nyx to jump from its back and rush over to stand in front of Luna.

He turned to his girlfriend, and asked, "Luna, are you okay?" when he reached her.

The daemon chuckled and sighed as it evaded another attack from Phoenix. It turned to Luna now. "Ever the damsel, aren't we Lunafreya?" it taunted. "Never strong enough to fight your own battles, so you always have to have a Nyx or a Noctis, or even a Weskham and a Cor, a pair of old battle broken _cripples_ , coming to your aid." The daemon sighed a put upon sigh. "Do you realize how much harder this will be for me than it has to? Now I must crush not just you three, but these two and their aeons, before I can return to help my partner."

"Sorry to disappoint," Nyx remarked sarcastically, glancing up toward Phoenix, who swooped down and grasped the daemon in its talons, "but none of that's gonna be happening tonight."

Much to Noctis' surprise, even though Phoenix held the daemon in its talons, the daemon was laughing. Not just laughing, but almost _cackling_ as it was lifted higher and higher in the air. Phoenix tried to close its talons and crush the daemon, but the laughter just increased as it glanced down at them. The daemon didn't struggle, didn't fight, as Phoenix lifted it higher and higher, or as Bahamut spiraled around them and planned to join in on the attack at the first opportunity.

As the laughter crescendoed, echoing out across the beach, Noctis felt it chilling him to his core. Or maybe that wasn't the laughter. Maybe that was the fact that the sky, formerly pouring rain down on them in buckets, had churned up a snow storm in its place. Except, no. It wasn't the sky causing the snow storm. Several yards away, Noctis saw the rain still falling steadily, angrily, as thick and heavy as the snow storm churning around them right then. It wasn't a natural snow storm. No, whatever was causing this snow was coming from the daemon. Noctis shivered; the rain was already chilling his body to the bone, and now the snow was just making it worse. They'd be lucky if half the team made it out of this without some kind of cold or flu or something.

That wasn't Noctis' main concern at the moment, though. Or even his secondary concern. He wanted to help Bahamut and Phoenix as they tried to fend off Luna's daemon self, but from down here, all he could do was watch. Watch as the daemon thrust out with its arms against Phoenix's talons and freed itself from the bird's grip. It fell gracefully from the sky, landing effortlessly on its feet a few feet away from Noctis. As it sauntered forward, confidence in its every step, it pushed Noctis aside like he was a rag doll, flicking its hand his way. As soon as the flick of the wrist completed, a pair of ice cuffs formed from the ground, chaining each of Noctis' wrists in place. It brought forth a harsh reminder, in the form of a blinding pain in his broken arm, that he wasn't operating at optimal capacity. And hell did it hurt.

With a pathetic cry, that turned into a whimper, Noctis tried to ignore the pain. Not to think about it. It wasn't really working, though, especially not as he tried to free himself from the icy bonds.

This was new. Wasn't it? None of the daemon selves they'd encountered so far had been able to use this type of magic. At least, none of the ones that Noctis had seen. He yanked, pulled, tugged against the ice cuffs, trying to break the clamps or to slide his hands out, but this was stronger than any ice Noctis had dealt with before. Pulling against them _hurt_ , and Noctis hissed a sharp note of pain at the burning chill of ice so close and so hard-pressed against his skin.

"And not only can you not protect yourself," the daemon taunted Luna, before capturing all three of Weskham, Cor, and Nyx, in a prison made of ice. "But you get those who protect you hurt. Weak and frail Lunafreya, can't figure out why she's sick, can't protect herself, can only sit and watch while her friends get battered around every night. Not only that? But you _send_ them there, don't you? Any of these nights, if no one had come back, they would have had no one to blame but you."

Even as he lay, restrained to the ground by his wrists—or maybe even because of it—Noctis' whole body was wrought with a shudder. A chill that froze from head to toe.

The daemon smiled wickedly. "But now, it's just you and I. None of your White Knights can do anything to assist you. How, exactly, do you plan to find your way out? If only you had a _bit_ more time."

Time. Noctis' eyes shot open, and he completely stopped pulling against the cuffs, as a moment of realization dawned on him. More time. Crystal Space. There were so many times, over the past few months, that he'd considered asking Luna to come with him to Crystal Space, so that she could meet Gentiana and she could at least _try_ to answer some of the questions that she had. At the very least, it would definitely answer her questions about Crystal Space, and it would buy them a little bit of time to find a way to get out of this situation.

For that to happen, though, he needed his hands free so that he could take the crystal from his pocket. Through the snow and the ice, his eyes met with Weskham's. As the coordinator looked back at him, Noctis flexed his fingers—ignoring the pain that it sent through his arm when he did—trying desperately to convey that he needed his hands. That he had a plan.

Anger flashed in Luna's eyes, and she shook her head no. "I am not just a damsel in distress! I don't need a knight in shining armor to come and rescue me from anything. Whether I am strong enough or not, I am smart enough to know that you're only trying to break me down," she seethed. "But you won't. Because I'm not afraid of you!" Her voice echoed through the open space around them. In spite of her words, though, Noctis could see the fear in her eyes. She was afraid. She just didn't want the daemon to see it.

Unfortunately, as with most daemon selves, Luna's saw right through her. The daemon version of Luna laughed softly, encasing Luna in a high walled dome of ice, that looked almost like a glass display case. It approached, standing outside of the ice and pressed its hand to the outside of the ice case. "You _are_ , though. As fragile as a butterfly behind glass, and almost as useful," the daemon taunted her. "Worry not. I will end your suffering."

"Let her go!" Nyx shouted, ramming his shoulder into the ice that composed their cage.

Much to Noctis surprise, it wasn't Luna's daemon self that stopped Nyx. It was Weskham, who shook his head, and murmured a gentle command into Nyx's ear. Nyx turned to look at Noctis, and then up at Phoenix. The pair shared a moment of silent human-aeon communication, and then, seconds later, Phoenix hovered over Noctis, shaking two flaming feathers lose. As the feathers floated downward, Noctis found himself wondering exactly how the bird managed to calculate where they would land. It had, though, and the feathers landed on each of the cuffs, searing through and melting the ice until Noctis could pull his hands free with minimal effort.

Noctis looked up at Bahamut, silently communicating with it as well, and he watched as the dragon read his thoughts, flying full speed toward the ice display that the daemon had Luna imprisoned in. Before he impacted, Phoenix fired a stream of flame at it, melting it slightly so that the impact of the dragon's body broke a hole and gave Noctis a way to get in.

He didn't waste the opportunity. One hand reached for the crystal in his pocket, and he hurried over to the enclosure. Once inside, he reached his cast-covered hand out, placing the tips of his fingers on Luna's shoulder. "Trust me, Luna, okay?" he asked her. Without waiting for an answer, Noctis pulled the crystal to his chest.

Noctis, for his part, was used to the shift of coming into Crystal Space. It felt like it always did; like a complete and total relief from any pain and exhaustion. His arm didn't hurt, his ribs didn't hurt, and the chill that had been tearing through his skin and down to his bones was completely gone and replaced with the comfortable neutrality that came with Crystal Space. Luna, though, looked thoroughly confused. Her eyes wide, she looked around at the wisps in the air and the blue that surrounded them. Her eyes turned down to the lack of floor, how it looked like they were just standing on nothing, and then up to the open space in front of them. She followed a wisp as it floated past her head, and then turned with it, watching as it soared up into the open space above them. As she turned to look back at Noctis, her expression wasn't as confused as he expected it to be.

"Noctis... is this Crystal Space?" she asked him.

All Noctis could do at first was blink. "Uh... yeah," he answered, a little bit dumbstruck at the fact that she already knew. "Yeah, it's-"

Luna turned away again, looking around before Noctis could even finish his sentence. "Is this how you feel every time you're here? No pain? No exhaustion... nothing?" Her voice was nothing short of amazed, and in a sad sort of way, it made sense. As far as Noctis knew, Luna hadn't been without pain in years. According to Weskham, it had been since she was a child, shortly after her mother passed away.

Ages of pain, exhaustion, endless misery, and suddenly she was feeling none of it. Noctis couldn't imagine how that felt. "Yeah. I don't really use it in fights as much as I should, but-"

"This is incredible. This is..." She trailed off, paused, and then started looking around like she'd lost something. "Oh! Oh, Astrals! The woman... Gentiana! Is she here?" she asked. There was an excitement in her tone that Noctis didn't usually hear. Not that Luna wasn't an eager, excited person, but she was usually more reserved.

As if summoned by Luna's voice, Gentiana's voice carried out around them. "Noctis. I was wondering when you would-" But then, she stopped completely.

When Noctis turned toward her, he saw that her eyes were trained on Luna. Staring, gaping like she was looking at someone she knew, but hadn't seen in half a lifetime. At the moment, Luna's back was turned, watching a pair of wisps as they twirled in the air above her head. Gentiana stared, though, green eyes wide as she looked from Luna's head to her toes.

"Lunafreya..." she spoke, her voice a quiet whisper as she took a step forward.

Luna tore her eyes away from the wisps, a smile on her face as she turned her head. However, as soon as she turned, the smile faded, replaced instead with an expression of wide-eyed shock. "Are you-"

With a nod, Gentiana replied, "yes. I am Gentiana. How?" she asked. "How did you bring her here?"

Scratching the hand unimpeded by the cast through his hair, Noctis looked from Gentiana to Luna, and then back to Gentiana. "I... I remember talking to Luna about Crystal Space a month or two ago, when we found my mom's jewelry box. And I remember that when I mentioned you, she said that you sounded familiar. So, I used the crystal while I was holding onto her arm. I... I didn't know if it would work," he explained. "But if it didn't? I figured that at the very least, I could come in here and figure out a way to, you know, get us out of that situation." He shrugged. It ended up not mattering, because here they were.

It didn't look like either Gentiana or Luna were going to respond to him. In fact, it didn't even really seem like he was registering on either of their radar at the moment. They stared at each other, and Noctis simply watched from where he stood, as Gentiana's eyes shot wide open like someone had slapped her. Only she didn't look like she was pained, she didn't look worried or angry... she looked relieved.

"Lunafreya. I believe I have garnered a new understanding of both of our situations." Gentiana stepped forward. "Seeing your face, looking at you, I am reminded of a time many years ago."

Luna looked speechless, but she also looked like she was hanging on Gentiana's every word. An instantaneous trust, like Gentiana wasn't just a mysterious kimono clad woman, but someone that she'd known long ago. "I don't remember," she admitted. "But when Noctis told me your name, I felt like I remembered you. Now, seeing you..." she trailed off.

But Gentiana picked right up where she left off. "You are correct. In a manner of speaking," she answered. "Noctis. Do you recall my frustration in your past visits, and that there was much I could not remember, about where I come from, or how I came to be in this place?"

"Yeah," Noctis nodded.

With a somber look in her eye, Gentiana turned to look at Luna. "When you were a child, Lunafreya, your mother passed away." It wasn't an informative statement, because she more than likely knew that Luna remembered that clearly. "During the fall of Insomnia. That night, you were trying to find your way to Noctis' and Gladiolus' fathers, correct?"

As Luna nodded, a questioning expression glinted across her face. "Yes. I don't remember much about that evening, however," she admitted. "Most of what I know was told to me by Ravus and Regis." She glanced down, somewhat somberly, before turning her head back to glance at Gentiana again.

Gentiana's expression went from somber to stern and protective. "Daemons closed in on you and your brother," she explained, her voice not leaving anything to question. "You tried to fight them off with magic, and your brother with his sword. However, you were cornered. That is when you first awoke to your aeon, but it was too powerful for you, so you lost consciousness."

Wait, what? Noctis blinked and shook his head no. "No. Luna doesn't have an aeon," he explained.

Shaking her head no, Luna looked up at Gentiana. "I'm incapable of magic, as well," she told Gentiana.

"No, you are not. And yes, she does," Gentiana countered to Luna and Noctis respectively, before stepping forward and reaching her two hands out for Luna's. "I am unsure of exactly how it transpired, but somehow, your memories of your aeon were sealed away, along with your aeon itself." A brief pause, and Gentiana squeezed gently on Luna's hands. "Remember, Lunafreya. You are inside the seal, so you should have access to the memories now. The only way to break the seal on your memories, your magic, and your aeon, is to remember."

Noctis tilted his head to the side and looked at Gentiana. "How do you know all of this?" he asked her.

Gentiana breathed a warm and gentle laugh, reminiscent of the ones that she used to give back before Noctis had confused her memories by mentioning Luna. She opened her mouth to speak, but when an answer finally came, it didn't come from Gentiana.

It came from Luna instead. For a second, her expression was blank, stunned, like dozens of memories were coming back to her all at once. Then, that faded, and she smiled. "Because... she _is_ my aeon." As she finished speaking, she glanced up at Gentiana with joyful surprise in her expression. Questioning.

The smile on Gentiana's face grew. "Yes," she answered. "Do you remember?" One of her hands rose to rest on Luna's cheek.

"I awoke. I summoned my aeon, I summoned you," Luna started, her eyes on Gentiana, "when a daemon was getting ready to kill Ravus. The awakening was so strong, though, that I passed out. I don't remember much of what happened to me after that, but when I woke up, I was in incredible pain. I couldn't do magic and I started getting very, very ill." Confusion etched itself across Luna's features.

Gentiana nodded. "And that was when they sealed me away."

Blinking dumbly, Noctis tried to piece everything together. "Do you think Luna got sick because they sealed her aeon... because they sealed _you_ away?" he asked.

"I believe so," Luna answered before Gentiana.

Once again, Gentiana nodded. "Yes. Sealing an aeon once one has awoken to it is a very taxing thing. The user feels tired all the time, and grows increasingly ill as time ticks on. I am not certain how Lunafreya has lived as long as she has, but I am extremely grateful that she has. Lunafreya, I believe in bringing you with him, Noctis has broken the seal that holds me here. I believe that, if you go back to your world and summon me, I will be able to aid you in battle like Bahamut does for Noctis, and like your other friends' aeons do for them."

Blinking, Luna asked, "will I be able to use magic again?" with hope shining in her eyes.

Gentiana smiled. "Yes, I suspect you will," she explained.

A thousand questions spun in Noctis' mind. The loudest one, though, was the wonder if would this free his true guide, or if Gentiana would still be here. Or, would he just not have a guide at all? It didn't matter. Guide or not, if it would help Luna with her illness, if it would help her have a way to protect herself like the rest of them could, he would sacrifice the assistance in an instant.

"Well then let's go," Luna exclaimed, turning her head to Noctis. "I would like to end this fight sooner than later, so that we can get everyone home before they catch pneumonia."

With a fond smile, Gentiana turned to Noctis. "Thank you, Noctis, for bringing Lunafreya with you today. For finding me my answers," she told him.

Noctis shook his head. "I'd been meaning to do it for awhile, but..." Every time he planned to, something always came up. It didn't matter now. "I'm glad to help. Luna's like my sister, and you've been a really big help, so, you know. Thank you," he told her, smiling gently and then shrugging his shoulders. "Guess this means I'll find out who my real guide is soon?"

Gentiana hummed an affirmative answer. "Indeed. I suspect that the next time you come here, you will meet them."

There was a knowing smile on her face then, and while Noctis wanted to ask, while he knew that Crystal Space was outside of time, it wasn't outside of time to him. Every second that they were here, in the back of his mind, he found himself worried about everyone outside. Nyx, Weskham, and Cor. All of the others back with Ignis' daemon self. Prompto. Astrals, he'd just jumped on Bahamut's back and left Prompto there with Loqi and Ravus. Granted, he was sure that none of the others would let anything happen to Prompto while they were around, but that didn't change the fact that they were around.

Like a wave of horrible realization, Noctis found himself wanting to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. Noctis took the crystal from his pocket again, and glanced over at Luna. "We should... we should go back. Okay?" he asked, the worry and panic pretty clear in his voice.

Luna nodded, and then turned to look at Gentiana, wrapping her arms gratefully around her neck. "I'll see you in a moment," she murmured, smiling with her whole face.

"Yes, though you should know that I will look quite different," Gentiana answered with a gentle chuckle.

With a smile, Luna released Gentiana from the hug and then backed up a couple of steps to stand next to Noctis. Her hand found his shoulder and she squeezed gently, smiled, said, "thank you so much, Noctis. This was... this was so much more than I ever could have possibly dreamed. I'll never forget it," and then glanced down at the crystal.

Noctis smiled gently. "There'll be plenty of time for that later, though," he told her as he pressed the crystal to his chest.

As the white-shift took Crystal Space over, Noctis' eyes found Gentiana, who was looking at them, smiling a grateful and warm smile. She waved to them, one hand in the air and her index and middle fingers moving in a subtle goodbye, then disappeared into the white. And then, it was back into the real world. Back into normal time, normal reality, pain, suffering, and _definite_ fear. In the brief moment between when they left the crystal and when time started back up again, awareness of the situation came back. Luna, however, wasted absolutely no time. The very second time started back up, she glanced at her daemon self with a determined fire coming back to her eyes. Time started again, pain and exhaustion came back—Noctis could identify, by Luna's posture, the second she found herself back inside of time, as well—but Luna didn't falter.

"You're wrong," she spoke steadily to her daemon self. "You're absolutely wrong about me. I am _not_ a frail butterfly. I am _not_ fragile. Perhaps I am a damsel, but I am _not_ in distress anymore. You, daemon, hold no sway over me. Especially not now."

A smirk crossed Luna's face, and before the daemon version of her could speak again, she called out into the sky.  "Shatter them, Shiva!"

Noctis had no idea how she knew about Gentiana's name change, but it didn't matter. The ground beneath Luna lit up in an ice blue sigil, and in a puff of snow, a tall, pale blue woman, walked up behind Luna. Her skin was ice blue and her hair was pure white, twirled into an updo, and appeared like it was made completely of ice, but otherwise, she looked exactly like Gentiana, still. Noctis smiled at her, but as she turned to look at Luna's daemon self, the smile turned into more of a smirk.

"Luna! You-"

Luna cut Nyx off with a smile and a nod. "I do. And now that she is here, I feel better than I have in over a decade," she told him, turning her head to look at the daemon. "As I was saying. You hold no sway over me."

Gentiana—Shiva, Noctis supposed—stepped forward, her movements graceful and elegant, almost like a dance. She jumped just slightly, and before Noctis could even react, she was floating in the air. Around the daemon she floated, creating several ice spears in the air as she moved. One, three, five, seven, nine spears made of ice appeared, and Luna exchanged a glance with Shiva. Both of them snapped their fingers at the exact same time, and the ice spears sliced through the air, stabbing through the daemon like it was a pincushion, and making it explode into a puff of daemon smoke.

Shiva looked from Bahamut to Phoenix, and the pair of them surged forward, shattering the cage that held Nyx, Cor, and Weskham in place. It rained shards of ice down around them, and they had to cover their heads to protect them from too much harm.

They were safe. Once again, they'd made it out of another fight mostly unscathed. Noctis would feel it later, and probably have some sort of cold or other illness, but that was okay. For now, he watched in half-relief as Nyx sprinted up to Luna, wrapping her in his arms and hugging her tightly.

"I'm okay, darling. Really. I feel excellent. Not even the slightest bit of pain. Or exhaustion. Or _anything_ ," Luna reassured him.

There was a distinct choking in Nyx's voice as he spoke. "You were amazing. You have an aeon? What did Noct do?"

Luna shook her head no. "Later," she assured them. "We need to hurry. The daemon was right. The others are in grave danger. Nyx, please call Phoenix over, so that he can carry the rest of us and Noct can ride on Bahamut." The commanding tone was far more confident than the shakiness with which she usually directed them, and Noctis would have loved to have been relieved by that, but now wasn't the time.

What it _was_ the time for, was to do exactly what Luna suggested. Noctis climbed onto Bahamut's back, and the rest of them climbed onto Phoenix. When Noctis looked up, he was stunned to see that Shiva was already halfway to where Noctis and Nyx had left the rest of the team. She skated on ice that she created herself, like an action hero or something, and despite the urgency, Noctis couldn't hold back a grin.

The smile faded when they arrived on the scene, though. Noctis caught sight of Ignis on the ground, with Gladio huddled over him and Iris standing next to Gladio. For a second, he panicked, but when he realized that Ignis' daemon self was nowhere to be seen, that panic changed to confusion. Confusion turned right back to panic, though, when he caught sight of a coeurl pouncing through the air and landing on Prompto.

"No!" Noctis shouted.

Before he could even react, though, another ice spear shot out of Shiva's hand and stabbed the coeurl right through the shoulder. It recoiled and hit the ground a couple of feet away from Prompto. Noctis blinked, but dismounted Bahamut all the same, running across the wet ground and falling to his knees next to Prompto.

He helped Prompto sit up. "Are you okay?" he murmured.

Prompto didn't even hesitate. He seemed to ignore his sore shoulders, then threw his arms around Noctis' shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Better now," he repeated what he'd said earlier that day.

Noctis wanted to laugh, but before he could gather his brain enough to say _anything_ , let alone laugh, he saw Luna and Shiva get to work. A sharp, harrowing chill took over the air, turning the rain that still patted down onto the ground into pure ice. The ice froze in mid air, hovering in place for a couple of seconds and catching the attention of all the coeurl around them. Once again, Luna and Shiva gave simultaneous snaps of their fingers, and all of the ice in the air formed into tiny homing missiles. They shot to the ground like bullets, finding each of the coeurl around them and riddling them with tiny ice-bullet holes.

All Noctis could do was blink. Relief flowed through him as he hugged Prompto tightly, but even then, he turned his head toward Luna. With the immediate threat dispatched, all of the summoned aeons disappeared into the night. Noctis found himself wondering if Luna would—almost expecting that she would—collapse like the rest of them had after their summoning. Weskham and Cor seemed to be whispering to each other, wondering the very same thing, but honestly, as much of a mystery as it was, it was also a blessing. She was okay. Hopefully, they were all okay.

She didn't. In fact, she immediately rushed over to where Iris and Gladio huddled with Ignis, worrying over them in her classic Luna way. Ravus was at her side in an instant, and even though Noctis had a million questions, he focused on Prompto instead of allowing himself to worry about them. His light. Just like Gentiana, or Shiva... whichever, had told him. His unbandaged hand came up to sweep some wet hair from Prompto's face.

"You're freezing," Prompto told him. "What... what happened over there?"

Noctis huffed a gentle laugh. "I'll tell you everything later, okay? I promise. It was... it was a lot."

Prompto nodded. "Yeah. We... we need to warm up, before you get sick." One of Prompto's hands reached up, smoothing across Noctis' cheek and brushing some matted bangs from his eyes.

The tone of the day had done a complete one-eighty halfway through. They'd gone from kissing each other dozens of times over the course of a couple of minutes, to spending their night in the rain and ice, dealing with daemons and two more daemon selves. It was okay, though. Everyone was okay. With a couple of answers to a couple of questions, but more questions in their place, sure. But okay. Maybe, with Ravus and Loqi with them, they'd be able to learn more. Everything would be okay again in no time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading! Got some less actiony things on the way!


	9. Topsy-Turvy

Two and a half days had passed, and almost everyone was sick. Some were sicker than others. A few had escaped with a pretty bad cold; Ravus, Prompto, and Crowe, namely. Noctis, Loqi, and Cor, on the other hand, had the flu, and Noctis seemed to have the worst of it. He hadn't left his room in Weskham's apartment since they got home that night and decided to spend the next few days in town. He'd taken a hot shower, crawled into the covers, fallen asleep, and woken up with a fever of 100.8, according to Weskham. Loqi and Cor had it, too, though their fevers were slightly lower, and Loqi was more or less refusing to stay in bed.

Luna had never suffered from an aeon coma, and she didn't even really have a cold. According to her, she felt a million times better than she'd ever felt in her life. The woman who had been ill for as long as Prompto had known her, was now the only one on the team healthy enough to wander around freely. She made a joke once, that it was a stark contrast from what she was used to. Everyone else was sick, or just tired, and she was awake, alert, and completely healthy.

Even the doctors had told her that. They'd looked her over while everyone else was getting checked over for their colds, flus, and whatever else. Prompto had heard the doctor tell her that he was completely mystified. There was no sign of the illness that had been plaguing her for years, almost like it completely and totally faded in the blink of an eye. Even despite the miserable cold ripping through Nyx's body, he couldn't keep the smile from his face. It made sense. Of course, it made sense. Luna was completely healthy, and he said that he'd never actually _seen_ her healthy before.

Prompto was happy for her; happy for both of them.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ignis had been hit _really hard_ by his aeon coma. According to the doctor, though, only half of it was aeon coma. Or, 'unknown,' as the doctor called it. The rest of it was exhaustion. His research habits apparently had him not sleeping at all, and barely eating. The doctor had explained that it seemed, from x-rays, that all he really had in his system was coffee and bits and pieces of a meal that Gladio had asked Weskham to convince him to eat. Gladio's throat was bruised to hell, but other than that, the only thing that had people worried about him was the fact that he hadn't left Ignis' side for even a second.

It wasn't surprising. They'd been distant for the past month or so, and then all of a sudden, all of that aeon stuff happened. Gladio seemed like he was a strong combination between terrified and devastated. Iris told Prompto when she came by the night before that Gladio was blaming himself completely, that daemon Ignis' words had taken root, and he was murmuring about how he'd screwed up; how he'd let Ignis down.

Weskham had tried, Cor had tried, _Iris_ had tried, but no one could convince him to listen. Honestly, Prompto understood. He and Noctis were hardly as connected as Gladio and Ignis were. They weren't even an actual couple, really. Even so, though, Prompto found himself feeling guilty whenever something happened to Noctis. Even if it wasn't his fault, he always wondered what he could have done differently to keep it from happening. Even now. Sure, things had turned out mostly okay. Still, Prompto wondered if they could have gone smoother, easier, if he'd followed behind Noctis and helped him take care of the daemon Luna.

Secretly, he wondered what it must have been like. Ignis' daemon self had been scary. Ruthless, with Ignis' intelligence to make it even worse. Luna was calmer than Ignis, sure. That calm came with a knowledge that there could be a freeze at any moment, though. Appropriate, Prompto figured, since her aeon attacked with ice. The daemon, too, attacked with ice. Noctis had explained the snowstorm, and _that_ had explained why he'd taken so long to warm up when they got back to the apartment. It also explained why he was so sick right now. When Weskham explained that Noctis had a sort of weak immune system, it made even more sense why he was sicker than everyone else.

So much for their vacation, Prompto couldn't help but think as he made his way down the hall on tired legs. Noctis needed more tea, and Prompto wouldn't mind some tea of his own, either. Iris had delivered some of Noctis' favorite tea earlier. While Prompto didn't feel the best, he could easily put tea in the teapot. Not being able to breathe from his nose wasn't enough to keep him from taking care of Noctis. _Nothing_ was going to keep him from taking care of Noctis.

Except, maybe, one thing. That one thing was standing in the kitchen, over a pot of steaming something, looking like he owned Weskham's apartment.

Prompto wasn't sure why Weskham and Cor had agreed with Ravus' suggestion that Loqi and Ravus stay with Noctis and Prompto at the apartment. He wanted to say that he wasn't sure why no one else was staying behind and taking the third room to cut the tension, but with Noctis and Loqi being as sick as they were, it made perfect sense. It didn't, however, make seeing Loqi any easier. It was a gut check reflex, the way Prompto was feeling at the moment. Every single time he'd been face to face with Loqi before then, he'd always come out of it wanting to hide in a hole or something. As much as he felt like a different person now, he knew that it was still a new feeling. That the wrong word, the wrong _tone_ , from Loqi would throw him back into his old habits, his old fears. And that was why he almost turned on his heel and left the room.

He didn't, though. He kept it together, trying to hold his head high as he walked into the kitchen and made his way toward the cupboard that he'd seen Ravus put the tea in.

When Loqi raised his head—taking Prompto by complete surprise, because it was rare beyond all rarity to see his brother in his glasses—he almost looked like _he_ wanted to retreat, too. Weird. How and why did _Loqi_ , of all people, feel like that? It was just Prompto. All their lives, Loqi had never feared Prompto before.

"I, um... I won't be long," Prompto offered in a stuffed up, quiet voice. "I just wanted t-to make Noct some tea. And then I'll be out of your way and-"

The sound of Loqi's voice interrupting him made him jump, but the words were even more surprising, honestly. "Don't worry about it," he replied, glancing up from the pot and looking Prompto over. "Put some on for me and Ravus, too." A pause, and Loqi clamped his teeth down on his lip. "Um... please," he added.

Prompto blinked. Had Loqi ever actually said please to him before? Like, ever? Swallowing thickly, he glanced up at the cupboard and nodded. "O... okay..." he murmured.

With a single nod, Loqi replied, "thanks," in a gravelly voice, and grabbed a couple of different spices, throwing them into the pot.

Soup, Prompto figured. It was the most reasonable conclusion. For a second, Prompto was silent, as he reached up into the cupboard where Weskham kept all of his nice teas, and gathered a pouch of loose leaf Tenebraen Sweet Berry tea. It was the only thing Noctis would drink, and Prompto liked it fine.

"Not that one," Loqi shook his head, setting the spoon down on the counter. "Lemongrass is good for whatever shit Caelum and me have going through our systems." He reached up into the cupboard and gathered another box of bagged tea, tossing it to the counter in front of Prompto.

Prompto blinked. "Oh. B-but, um... Noct doesn't like that one, so..." He glanced back at the pouch of sweet berry tea.

Shrugging, Loqi nudged the lemongrass tea a little bit closer to Prompto. "Trust me," he suggested, then paused, winced, and continued. "I can't even taste much right now, and I bet Caelum can't either. He won't even know it's lemongrass until it's too late."

Admittedly, Prompto felt partially like Loqi was pushing him around again. At the same time, though, Prompto wanted to make sure that Noctis got the best. If this was the best, then... Noctis wouldn't be mad, right? He glanced at the two different tea types. He considered being defiant and taking the loose leaf, just to prove a point to Loqi, but proving his point shouldn't have come at the expense of getting Noctis better quicker. So, he picked up the lemongrass and put the loose leaf tea back in the cabinet. Much to his surprise, Loqi was smiling a little bit.

Prompto dared himself to speak up again, pulling the topic away from the tea as he put water in the pot and put it on the stove. "I... I didn't know you could cook."

Loqi shrugged. "Had to learn, or I wouldn't eat," he explained. "For all the bitching father did about my diet, he never cooked." He stared into the pot. "Probably flip his shit if he saw me making soup like this, honestly. But I found the recipe in this weird looking Rolodex thing Armaugh had, and it just happened that he bought all the ingredients." Again, Loqi paused, and then he puffed out a humorless laugh. "Dunno what he expected you or Caelum to do with it, since from what I hear, Scientia and Armaugh do all the cooking for you, but guess it's a good thing I'm here."

Raking his teeth over his lip, Prompto glanced downward and shrugged his shoulder once. A good thing Loqi was there. He thought back to what happened while they fought off Ignis' daemon self. Loqi had fought to protect him; had his back, which was the last thing he'd ever expected. Did he dare ask why Loqi had done it? He and Ravus were together, weren't they? And Ravus had tried to kill Prompto. So... didn't it stand to reason that Loqi wanted Prompto dead, too? Prompto scratched a hand through his hair and sniffled up some snot that threatened to drip from his nose.

Before he could speak up, though, he watched Loqi move and shove a box of tissues down the counter at him. "Don't do that. You'll hate yourself for it later," he commanded.

Prompto blinked, glancing down at the tissues, before reaching down to take one and quickly blowing his nose. Why was Loqi being... well, not _nice_ , but not like he usually was? Prompto realized right then that he'd been staring, and he turned to glance back down at the tea pot. He'd effectively psyched himself out of saying something.

At least until Loqi spoke up. "So, I... we should..." He paused, scrunched his face then stared back down into the pot of soup, before turning the temperature of the stove down. "You look like you want to say something."

It wasn't like Loqi knew him, really. They hadn't had a conversation in ages that didn't consist of Loqi asking Prompto to hand something over or Loqi telling Prompto how much of a waste of space he was. Ages, possibly ever. If it had ever happened before, Prompto didn't remember it. Loqi seemed to know, though, that he had something on his mind. How? Why?

Swallowing nervously, Prompto shrugged his head to the side. "I mean... I don't wanna bother you, or... or like..."

"I asked," Loqi pointed out. "Wouldn't've asked if I didn't wanna know." He still wasn't meeting Prompto's eye, or even looking his way.

Prompto was looking at him, though. There was something alarmingly awkward about Loqi's facial expression. Concern. That same little bit of regret that he'd been projecting before they went out to the island to fight the daemons a couple of nights ago. Weird. Like, really weird. Prompto shrugged his good shoulder up and stared at the table. How did he even start?

Apparently, in Prompto's case, he started by staring nervously at the counter. "I... I mean, I just had... I was just c-curious," he stammered. "I'm w-wondering why you helped me. Why you're... you know... acting so different."

It looked like Loqi was shocked at first, like the question was almost a slap to the face or something. A few seconds passed, though, and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and doing exactly what he'd just told Prompto he shouldn't do by snorting up his own mucus. "Of course," Loqi sighed, glancing down at the pot of soup. "Damn, I really wish that journal didn't get water logged. I could just show you instead of..." He trailed off, going completely silent as he stirred the soup around with the giant wooden spoon.

"What, um... what does the journal have to do with-"

"Everything," Loqi interrupted, sighing softly. "Like... it has the exact words I want to say, but I can't, because..." Once again, he trailed off. Because... what?

Seeing Loqi so flustered was _beyond_ weird to Prompto. It was like he was a whole different person. Like he was feeling the way Prompto had felt around him for years. It was both vindicating and confusing at the same time. Any type of situation that had _Loqi_ feeling like this had to be a big deal. Loqi, in all the time Prompto had known him—which was his whole life, obviously—had seemed unshakable. Biting down on his lip, Prompto dared himself to turn and look at Loqi again.

Then, he asked, "because what?" in a nasally, but still nervous, tone.

Snorting a laugh, Loqi answered, "because I'm a fucking wuss," as he turned the soup pot off, then turned to grab bowls from the cupboard. Four, which was all the more surprising to Prompto.

Prompto blinked hard, and shook his head no. "You're not the wuss, remember? That's me." It was supposed to be a joke, but it was true. Compared to Loqi, Prompto was the coward. Up until this point, Loqi had never really had any issue pointing that out to him, either. It was weird—really weird—to hear Loqi saying stuff like that about himself, and _not_ hearing him say that stuff about Prompto. "I, um... I think you're really brave, I mean. I always wanted to, y'know... be brave like you are."

When Loqi's only reply, at first, was a hiss, as he jumped back from the stove and shook his hand, Prompto couldn't help but flinch. "Fuck! Son of a bitch, the stove was... ow!" He hissed in a breath through his teeth.

Usually, a sound like that was coupled with _some_ kind of blame thrown Prompto's way, so Prompto couldn't help the flinch, or the half-step he took away from the counter top. When he turned to look at Loqi, Loqi was looking at him in surprise, and all that Prompto could do was swallow his nerves at first. "Um... sorry, if I-"

"Huh? No. Why would you think-" Just as quickly as Loqi started asking the question, though, he stopped sharply and glanced back down at his hand. "O-oh. I... no. No, I just burned my hand. Not your fault, Argentum. I mean... Prompto."

Before Prompto even had a second to react to that, Loqi spoke up again as he ran his hand under cold water. "Kinda serves as proof, though, that you're wrong. I'm not brave, 'cause if I was brave, we wouldn't..." He paused, huffing a breath and grunting in mild frustration. "Pretty sure we wouldn't be so estranged if I wasn't a wuss, Prompto. If I hadn't been so damn scared of..." Once again, he stopped short, and shook his head. "It's not important. What is important, is that I'm not brave. If either of us is brave, it's you."

Loqi shrugged, and that was where he closed the topic, leaving Prompto's mind in a whirlwind. Before he could collect it, though, Loqi changed the topic again, seeming intent on throwing all of the information in the world at Prompto all at once. He breathed a heavy and slow breath, focusing his attention on on doling out four bowls of soup while he spoke.

"The reason the journal's important, for what it's worth, is because it's got a lot of info about both of us in it." As he continued speaking, he turned, gathering a group of four forks from the drawer. "Specifically..." Again, he stopped. Again, it looked like he was struggling. Again, Prompto was a little bit nervous as to what possibly could have been in the journal. What could _possibly_ have Loqi this flustered? "Damn it, I wish one of your friends was here. This would usually be where they jumped in and either said it for me, or said something to make me say it, wouldn't it?"

Prompto raised an eyebrow. "I don't think they would make you," he pointed out.

Loqi hummed and shrugged. "They probably should," he answered. "Alright. I'm gonna explain it all at once, so just shut up and let me do it, alright?"

At the moment, Prompto didn't feel the need to point out that he hadn't said much of anything for the last little while; he'd just let Loqi talk. That was okay. He'd just continue to do the same. "Okay," he answered.

After a slow and steadying breath, during which he put two of the four bowls of soup on a tray and moved to gather four coffee cups from the cupboard to fill with tea, he finally spoke again. "So, father was hiding some stuff from both of us." That was a simple start, and one that Prompto had pieced together a long time ago. "About our births." He snorted a derisive laugh after that, and then met Prompto's eye for the briefest of seconds, before turning to look away again.

"Births. Fucking stupid. Can't even call it that, I don't think. See, the journals? According to them, we weren't actually born. Turns out, if what he was saying was to be believed, neither of us have actual moms. We're basically... he cultivated us. From his own genes. Wanted to 'guarantee obedience,' but it didn't really work on your part. Only got it right with me, I guess." Loqi's tone was self-deprecating, and he made another annoyed noise. "Wanted to make us into test subjects for something or other. 'S why he wanted our blood for so long." His eyes went down to his arm, to the inner edge of his elbow, which was clear now, but was usually covered with the same 'rash' that Prompto always had as a kid.

As Prompto tried to process that, Loqi continued. "All that shit I gave you for calling me your brother," he huffed. "I dunno what you call us. We're literally chips off the old block, for fuck's sake. But... we were made from the same person. So... so, I dunno. I dunno if that makes us brothers or what it makes us. But, we're something. We're... related some fucking how. And it pisses me right the hell off."

Prompto winced. He was confused about all of this, sure, and he had no _clue_ whether Loqi was actually being honest with him, or if he was just coming up with some convenient lie to cover for the real reason that he was being nicer. He did know, though, that Loqi had just said that he was pissed off about possibly being related to Prompto.

Loqi must have caught the wince, though, because he made a face. "I didn't mean it like that," he insisted. "I just... it pisses me off that he spent so much fucking time, making me feel like being nice to you was a waste, because he was the only real, actual family I had. I dunno what we are, but we're... something. Right? And I could've known that, but I didn't, and..." He trailed off, looking down at the stove again.

"All I'm saying is if I had, shit would've been really, really different."

Shocked. That was the _only_ way that Prompto could describe how he was feeling. He blinked twice, staring blankly at Loqi and then looking down at the bowls of soup. "So, we're actually brothers, then?" he asked, his voice as quiet and shaky as it was stuffy.

Frowning, Loqi puffed a breath out. "Like I said, I dunno," he answered. "Dunno if it's that, or we're clones, or we're some fucking manufactured human bullshit that he wants to pass off as normal, but we are something. Everyone just, y'know, thought you should know..." He paused and trailed off, dropping a spoon into each bowl.

Prompto was quiet again. It was a lot of information at once, and maybe Loqi was right about one thing: it was hard to know if he could trust the information coming from Loqi. Loqi had made his life hell for so long, how could Prompto be sure that this just wasn't another way he was trying to get into Prompto's head? It was insane, thinking that they'd been maybe-brothers, maybe something else, all along. Even crazier to think that Loqi didn't know about it. His reaction had seemed genuine, though. Like, the kind of reaction that he couldn't fake even if he was trying.

Between that fact and the fact that he'd been acting so differently, it was hard not to want to put a little bit of faith in him. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it would only end up hurting Prompto in the long run. It was a mistake that he'd spent all of his life wanting to make, though. Trusting Loqi, being his brother. Maybe developing some kind of friendship. It was too stupid to hope for, though.

The very least he could allow himself to hope for was, "do you... can I... call you my brother now?"

Prompto expected one, very specific, reaction from Loqi. He expected an adamant no in a harsh tone. Some sort of angry curse that made Prompto want to back away, or run away and hide. For Loqi to stop completely in place, like a deer caught in headlights, and to stare at the four bowls like _he_ wanted to run away or hide, was not the reaction he expected at all. He watched as Loqi turned to look back at him, tried to speak twice, and then turned on his heel and rushed out of the room, leaving his four bowls of soup behind. A few seconds later, he heard the door to the room that Loqi and Ravus were using slam closed.

All Prompto could do was blink after him, stunned both by everything that Loqi had just told him and by the reaction to the simple question. Was it so bad, the two of them being brothers? Prompto knew that Loqi didn't like him very much. He'd known that for a long time. After their father's rejection, though—after finally seeing what Prompto had felt like for his whole life—Prompto had allowed himself the vaguest hope that Loqi would want familial connection like he did. It was stupid to think.

Taking another tissue from the box and wiping the bottom of his nose of the threat of dripping snot, Prompto sighed. He looked at the four bowls of soup in contemplation. Did he want to bring them to Loqi's room? Prompto figured that Loqi was making them all for himself and Ravus, to save himself the extra trip later, since they were both sick. Prompto moved toward the far cabinet, where Noctis had shown him the old TV tray that Weskham used to serve him breakfast in bed when he was sick. Maybe he could use it to get the soup to Loqi's room.

As he leaned, reaching into the cabinet with his uninjured hand, the echoing sound of footsteps coming down the hall. For a second, he thought that maybe Loqi had come back to talk again, but when the person behind the footsteps spoke up, Prompto was proven wrong.

"Prompto?"

Ravus' voice made Prompto jump and hit his head just slightly on the top of the cabinet. He hissed as he pulled his head back, the hand on his good arm coming to rest on the back of his head. "Uh... h-hi Ravus. I was just... I was getting something to bring you and Loqi your soup. S-sorry if I'm in your way."

Shaking his head no, Ravus walked over to the counter. "You're not," he explained as he looked over the four bowls of soup. "Loqi sent me out to tell you that two of these bowls of soup are for you and Noctis. He made too much, he said, though I suspect that he made it with the intent to give to you two." The smile on Ravus' face was strange. It looked more like one of the gentle smiles that Prompto usually saw from Ignis or Weskham.

"I doubt that," Prompto answered with a shrug. "He doesn't-"

Ravus shook his head again. "I know you haven't got a reason, Prompto. I know I've given you nothing but reasons to do the opposite, but trust me. Please. Give him time. As new as all of this information is to you, it's only slightly older to him. His life has been turned on its head just as much as yours. He will, eventually, be at peace with it. Embrace it, even, because he doesn't hate you. He doesn't dislike you. I would even say that he needs you." As he spoke, he gathered two trays from the cabinet and placed it on the counter.

Prompto blinked. "He doesn't need me. He's the stronger one. He's-"

"No," Ravus retorted, putting two of the bowls of soup and two of the cups of tea onto one tray, and then two on the other. "Like I said. Just give it time. And thank you, for being kind and listening to him." And with a smile, he turned on his heel and left.

Left a very confused and dumbstruck Prompto, standing in the kitchen with a tray filled with soup and tea, to think about the fact that, if this was true, everything he'd learned about his life had been proven false. His dad actually _was_ his dad. Or, was that what people called someone who created them artificially? And Loqi both was and wasn't his brother. What did all of this mean? And what could his dad have possibly wanted to accomplish by creating a son that he didn't even like? Prompto sniffled again, grabbing the box of tissues and setting it on the tray. Maybe, whenever Noctis woke up again, the pair of them could talk it over. Talking with Noctis always seemed to clear things up in his head.

If it was true, though, and if Ravus was right, maybe he had a chance at something he'd wanted all his life. Maybe he and Loqi could truly be brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, the Loqi!redemption arc begins! ♥


	10. Guide

It said something, that Noctis was only partially thrown off by being summoned to Crystal Space in his sleep. It said even more, the fact he felt better in the wisp-filled space than he did in reality. He could breathe here. He could raise his head without feeling lightheaded and dizzy, and he could actually pull in a deep breath without coughing up a lung. For that, at least, he was grateful to be here.

Well, that and one other thing. Gentiana—or Shiva, or whoever she was—had told him that the next time he came here, he'd learn who his true guide was. His true guide. Would his true guide have answers? Would they be able to tell him things that Gentiana wouldn't be able to tell him about aeons? It was a shame that he hadn't had the chance to really ask Gentiana, and that now that she was Shiva again she couldn't talk to him. Getting advice about aeons _from_ an aeon? That would've been cool and really, really helpful. It was his fault, he guessed, for not taking the chance to ask her when he had the chance.

Maybe now he'd have the chance, though. Wouldn't it be cool if his true guide was a humanized version of Bahamut? If he could talk to his aeon and actually thank it for everything it had done in a way that he _knew_ it would understand? Or what if it was someone he didn't know? Someone he _couldn't_ have known without Crystal Space? That would be cool. Really cool.

He thought and wondered and his mind raced through possibilities, as he glanced up at the wisps that formed with each question and curiosity that entered his mind. They swirled into the sky and fluttered around, twinkling down a glittering rain, and even though they were more questions, more things that Noctis didn't know and might never know, that didn't mean that they weren't pretty. They were. They were gorgeous, and enough to distract Noctis while he waited to find out who his guide was. And that was when he heard it. As he was watching a pair of wisps do an intricate dance composed of spinning and twirling around each other, higher and higher into the nothingness overhead, he heard the very last voice he ever expected to hear again, but the one he wanted to hear again more than any other.

"Hello, my son."

Noctis turned in a motion so sharp that it almost sent him onto his ass on the ground. There, dressed in a black, pinstriped suit—familiar; one of the ones he'd taken from the closet when Weskham and Cor had asked him to clean it out—was his father. Regis Lucis Caelum's face was cracked with a gentle but very present smile, and the second Noctis caught his eye, he couldn't help but notice that his father's eyes were welling up. He regarded Noctis with a soft mixture of happiness and sadness on his face, and stepped forward between the wisps, approaching Noctis slowly.

Behind him, Noctis barely noticed the presence of a second person; a second guide, maybe. They only registered on Noctis' radar enough for him to notice their presence, though, because his father was walking toward him and enveloping him in a hug. For the first couple of seconds, Noctis still wasn't sure that it was real, but after the initial shock of tension faded and he relaxed just slightly into the embrace, the feeling of familiarity was impossible to ignore.

The embrace was loose but tight at the same time, and the man looked, sounded, _smelled_ just like his dad. Could it be? Was it actually possible that his dad was his true guide? Noctis trembled a little bit, an embarrassing thing, given the fact that it was his dad, not some weirdo or some stranger, but the emotion, the strong sense of sadness and happiness mixing together and swirling into a mental tempest, had him unable to do anything else.

"Dad! Is it... is it really you...?" Noctis finally spoke up. "You're... my guide?"

Regis hummed an affirmative answer against Noctis' hair, and Noctis was unable to hold back a gentle tremor once more as he fought with the urge to cry. He reached his arms up, hugging his dad back with all of the energy he had in him. Whoever he'd expected, this was definitely not it. His dad. Was it real? Gentiana had been real, hadn't she? So... was this his real, flesh and blood, dad? Gentiana had been freed and existed in reality as an aeon. Was that possible here?

He shot back from the embrace, meeting his dad's eye and speaking in a desperate tone. "Does this mean... is there some way I can free you and bring you back to-"

Regis' expression fell, and he shook his head no. "I am quite dead, unfortunately," he spoke, and then he made a face that suggested that the words sounded as odd as they did saddening. "I'm reasonably certain that the crystal you hold, the crystal that the placeholder guide gave you, holds a piece of my soul in it. The lock, the magic that held Lunafreya's aeon in place, held us in there as well. Now that the lock is lifted, I can appear to you," he explained.

It sort of made sense, but at the same time, it didn't make sense at all. Then again, what about anything in his life made sense anymore? Hour Twenty-Five was longer than an hour, people were getting aeons left and right... nothing made sense, basically. What he was (relatively) sure of, though, was the fact that his dad was here in front of him. At least, physically. That thought had him jumping forward and throwing his arms back around his dad's shoulders and losing the battle with tears.

Before he could think to ask that, Regis ruffled his hair. "It's okay, Noctis. You don't have to pretend not to be overwhelmed. I'm rather emotional myself," he confessed. The embrace tightened, and he rubbed Noctis' back with one hand.

A soft, gruff laugh came from behind Regis' back, and Noctis blinked. _That_ sounded familiar, too. "Do be careful, Regis. You will crush the boy's spine," the voice called as he stepped forward, placing a hand on Regis' shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Do you blame me, Clarus?" Regis asked. "You can't tell me that you would not feel the same, seeing Gladiolus or Iris again. In fact, I suspect that I would need to pry you away before you _did_ crush them." He finally released Noctis from the hug and looked down at him, placing his thumb and forefinger on his son's chin. Pressing a tender kiss to his forehead, he finally went quiet and allowed Noctis a chance to speak.

The problem with that was that Noctis didn't even know where to begin. He had so many questions, and—in the face of his father—so many emotions, running through his mind. "I don't... I don't understand. Why you? And Uncle Clarus, too? I'm-"

Clarus smiled a gentle smile and tilted his head to the side. "At first, I wasn't sure why, either. Initially, I'm relatively certain that your mother was supposed to be in my place." A slightly remorseful smile crossed his face when he turned to glance at Regis. "I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that it has much to do with the ability you have to bring people in here with you." He dropped his hand from Regis' shoulder, and placed it on Noctis' instead.

With a nod, Regis picked up where he left off. "If possible, I think it would do some good if you could bring Gladiolus, Ignis, and Iris here with you. To see Clarus."

"I ask that you be careful about it, though. I suspect that Gladiolus will struggle with this whole concept. Iris will naturally be on board. She's far more free-spirited than her brother." Spoken with a fond smile. "I will also ask that you bring them all together. Iris and Ignis will be able to soothe Gladiolus significantly, and I would like to address them all at once."

Noctis blinked. He hadn't thought of that, but of course it made sense! Gladio, Iris, and Ignis hadn't ever gotten the chance to say goodbye to Uncle Clarus. Or Noctis' dad, of course, but the fact that they'd never had a chance to say goodbye to their own father was more important. Nodding eagerly, Noctis stood up straighter. "I can go get them now and be right-" He stopped. "Oh. Oh, I... no. Iggy's..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes.

"What about him?" Clarus asked.

Sighing, Noctis continued. "It might be awhile," he explained, his expression going dismal. "Ignis has been... sort of overworking himself. And when he awoke to his aeon, he... you know, sort of shut down. We don't know when he's gonna wake up." More than two days, he'd been out. It was hard not to worry, when he had seen—when he had experienced—firsthand what aeon comas could be like.

With a softly hummed note of understanding, Clarus nodded his head. "I would expect no less from him, if I'm being completely honest," he admitted. "You start to get clues, it should have been no surprise to any of you that he wanted to over-analyze all of it and deconstruct it. Least of all Gladiolus."

"Gladio tried to stop him," Noctis defended his friend. Not that he probably needed to. Clarus probably wasn't legitimately _angry_ ; just concerned, and wanting to reassure himself that Gladio and Ignis were still a pillar of strength like they had always been. It made sense, honestly. Noctis wanted to assure himself of that, too. "But Specs wasn't listening to anyone. He... he needed to get to the bottom of it. I just hope he'll be more careful from here on out..."

"As do I," Clarus reassured him. "And before you suggest it, of course I do not blame you. Nothing that has happened is your fault."

Regis shook his head. "Ever, my son," he added gently.

It was the same thing that everyone else had told him, and he listened as much as he ever did. With that out of the way, though, he glanced up at his dad and raked his teeth over his lip. Next topic. He didn't want to focus on this anymore. "But... what about you, though? I mean, if Uncle Clarus is here because of you, then you..." Too many questions, not enough answers. Never enough answers.

Except, unlike Gentiana, Regis actually spoke up. "Clarus' presence is only partially because of his children, my son. We're both here because we are the people you most wish to see," he explained. "Crystal Space is much like your aeon to you. It responds to your desires." He glanced up at the endless expanse above him and laughed a gentle note. "You have many questions, don't you?"

Noctis couldn't help but chuckle a soft note. Yeah. Yeah, he had a ton of questions, and he only had _more_ now. The wisps that had formed just since he arrived there that day floated around and joined the dozens, hundreds, of others in the air. "I mean, can you blame me?" he asked his dad with a wry smirk. "Everything that's happened in my life over the past few months is a question on its own. I..." He trailed off. The confusion, coupled with the emotion of seeing his dad again, crashed together in his mind.

"And then there's this. I mean, I'm glad to see you again. I'm... really glad," Noctis added, biting his lip and breathing a slow and gentle breath in, then out. No more tears. Not right now. "But I still... how, you know? You're dead. Gentiana, or Shiva, or whoever she is... at least she was alive in a sort of sense. I watched the two of you die for me. How is-"

Squeezing the hand on Noctis' shoulder, Clarus smiled a sad smile. "Your crystal, Noctis, is tied to you. Your father's was tied to him, and when it was your mother's, it was tied to her as well," he explained.

Regis nodded. "For me, it was your mother. My guide," he explained. "For your mother, it was her mother. Everyone's true guide is the person they trust the most, and it is always a person that has passed away. Not because of any specific mystical circumstance, but because it's an unfortunate condition of those in our position, who live the kind of lifestyle we live. Or, lived, I suppose," he added as he glanced over at Clarus. "Our loved ones tend to die, don't they?"

Frowning, Noctis nodded. "Yeah, and it sucks," he responded simply.

Clarus laughed. "Indeed it does," he replied.

"Gentiana's circumstance was very unfortunate, and something that I wish I could have explained. Even we didn't know why Lunafreya was so ill," he explained. "We still don't know the exact reasons behind it, but we do know now that she was separated from her aeon after it awakened. The person behind the daemon attacks when Insomnia fell saw her as a threat. As the only threat, with your mother, Sophia, and Sylva gone. She was the first to awaken beyond the original triad. It was believed that her aeon would be even stronger than her mother's."

Sighing sadly, Clarus nodded. "So, she was kidnapped," he explained. "We were rather surprised when she was returned to us several weeks later. We had been trying to find her ever since she'd disappeared, but never had any luck. They returned her to us, a shell of her former self." He turned to Regis, passing the story baton and glancing down at the ground sadly.

With a nod, Regis took the hint. "Her energy was gone. Over time, as you saw, she got sicker and sicker, fell further and further into a mystery illness that none of us could identify. She could no longer use her magic, and she could no longer call upon Shiva. For a long time, we tried to figure out exactly why. We went years and years without any sort of sign, so the quest found itself falling to the wayside, as things like that commonly do." Regret filled his face.

"And that's why Ravus left," Noctis spoke up, finally. After all this time, he finally had an answer to a question that had always plagued him. "Not because he hated us, but because he wanted to continue the search for whoever was making Luna sick."

Clarus nodded. "He never explicitly said so, but yes, we suspect that to be the reason he left." He sighed. "We aren't certain as to what he found, or if he even found any answers at all. We do know, though, that he wasn't allying himself with those ill-reputed people by choice." Leave it to his dad and Uncle Clarus to figure out things that they never could.

So, what did that mean, then? Did that mean that he'd aligned himself with Verstael because he thought that maybe Verstael was the reason that Luna was sick? And what did that mean for Loqi? Did Loqi know about it? Every new question saw a new wisp appearing and flying up into the air. He had a few answers, but there were always more questions; always more things that he didn't know, couldn't know. As much sense as it made—no one could know everything, after all—it was endlessly frustrating. He turned to look up at his dad, then to Clarus, then back to his dad, and swallowed thickly.

"Was it ever hard for you guys?" Noctis asked. "The questions, I mean? Not knowing anything other than the fact that it was your job to protect people who can't protect themselves?"

Regis laughed a soft laugh. "Sometimes."

Seconds later, Clarus corrected him. "Often," he countered, flashing Regis a bitter half-smile.

At least that helped Noctis feel a little bit better. He wasn't the only one overwhelmed by everything. "How... how'd you deal with it? Like, I'm okay, I think. For the most part. Sometimes I still feel down, and it's hard to chase the feeling away. But I have more friends now. And Ravus came back."

Regis half-smiled. "And you have Prompto," he mused.

Prompto. Despite all of the questions, and all of the confusion and emotions caused by seeing his dad again after so long, Noctis managed a tiny smile at the thought of his friend. The smile faded into a confused expression moments later, though, when he realized that somehow his dad knew about Prompto. How?

"Wait. You know about Prompto...?" Noctis blinked, scratching a hand through his hair.

A soft laugh escaped and Regis nodded his head. "Imagine watching through a window. When you came to Crystal Space and spoke with Gentiana, it was a bit like that. We could hear your conversations, and we could see you, but we were trapped outside of the barrier that kept Gentiana trapped inside. We heard you talking to her about Prompto. We heard many of the problems that you and the rest of the team went through. It was hard, watching them, listening to them, and not being able to supply any assistance." He shook his head softly and placed a hand on Noctis' shoulder.

"I am quite proud of you, though. You found Prompto, saw that he was struggling with his father, and brought him to a better life. I may not know the boy, but it sounds to me like he is doing a lot better with the team."

Noctis blinked. He _had_ talked to Gentiana quite a bit about Prompto, and about how he was coming into his own now that he was free from Verstael. So, Noctis' dad had heard all of that. All of the other things that he'd asked Gentiana about. He'd seen the number of wisps in Crystal Space grow, grow, and grow to what it was right now. "Man, I don't understand anything about what is happening right now," he confessed. "But... I can't be mad. I missed you so much, dad. I..."

Regis smiled again, stepping forward two steps and wrapping Noctis into another tight hug. "I've missed you, too," he answered. "We both did. We miss all of you." He frowned.

Of course they missed everyone. It made sense. They'd always been a family, so of course, only being able to hear what Noctis told Gentiana, only getting bits and pieces of information when they wanted the whole story, and to be there to help, would be difficult. It would probably stay that way, too. Noctis and the others, when he brought them in, would only be able to share the stories as they remembered them. Ignis had a solid memory, at least. As long as it wasn't affected by whatever he was going through right now with the aeon coma and the exhaustion...

"Dad?" Noctis asked, unable to fight the odd look on his face at how strange it was to say that again and get a response. He did, though, and Regis looked at him inquisitively. "How long did mom's aeon coma last? And Aunt Sophia's and Aunt Sylva's? Is it normal for them to be long?"

The shrug Regis gave wasn't a comforting answer, nor were the words that he spoke afterward. "It varies from person to person," he explained, "and there are several other factors, too." He held his hand up, ticking each answer off on a finger. "How strained they were before their awakening, how much they trust their aeon, how much effort it took to take down what the aeon came to protect them from..." He sighed long and heavy. "Your mother was unconscious for nearly a week."

Clarus nodded. "Sophia was out for two days, and Sylva only for a day." He glanced at Noctis.

Ignis had been under a lot of strain, and from what the others said, he'd made a massive typhoon to take out the daemon version of him. "Luna got lucky, I guess. She didn't have any coma or anything," he huffed a laugh.

With a thoughtful hum, Regis nodded. "It makes sense, I suppose. Lunafreya's was less of an awakening and more of a reminder. I'm glad she's suffered no ill effects, though. It's long past time she stopped suffering," he added.

The three of them spent far too long after that, catching up. Well, it was more Noctis telling stories about everything that had happened—all of the things that he hadn't really told Gentiana, about how the places they used to go had changed, and how he had the box that his dad had left behind now—and the conversation was mostly light. Until, anyway, Noctis mentioned Hour Twenty-Five, and how it was getting longer. The second the words escaped his lips, the conversation completely died off, and his dad's eyes widened. He stepped forward, placing a hand squarely on each of Noctis' shoulders and looking him square in the eye.

"Did I just hear you correctly?" Regis asked.

Noctis blinked. "Um... yeah," he answered. "It's... it's longer now. An hour and thirteen minutes, last time I checked." It was an expected reaction, honestly. Noctis was still confused by all of it, and so was everyone else, so of course his dad and Clarus would be, too.

After exchanging a look with Regis, Clarus frowned. "How long has it been happening for?" he asked.

As he thought, Noctis went quiet and glanced down at the ground. "A month or so? Since Gladio and Nyx awoke to their aeons, so yeah. About a month. Weskham thinks that it gets a little bit longer every day, and-"

It didn't really look like Regis was paying attention to that part, though. He was looking at Clarus and frowning. "Do you recall, Clarus, back before any of the children were born?" he asked. "When we overheard that pair from Niflheim, talking about their plans to extend the Hour beyond sixty minutes?" His expression was unsettled, but he didn't take his eyes from Clarus.

Clarus nodded his head, the same expression on his face. "The man with the long gray hair, and the burgundy haired man with the fedora-"

"Burgundy haired man with a fedora?!" Noctis asked, his eyes wide as he found his expression twisting to match his dad's and Clarus'. The burgundy haired stranger, someone Noctis hadn't thought of in a good long while. Had he been wearing a hat? Noctis honestly couldn't remember, but he did remember the burgundy hair. Was that common, or...

Before he could go any further down his own mental rabbit hole, Clarus turned from where he'd been looking at Regis and placed a hand firmly on Noctis' shoulder. "What did he look like?" he asked.

Astrals, how long had it been since Noctis had seen the guy? It was honestly a little bit tough to remember exactly what he looked like, but Noctis tried his damnedest. "Um..." he murmured, looking between Uncle Clarus and his dad, who was looking at him somewhat expectantly. It both helped jog his memory and hindered it at the same time. "Tall. Really tall. With layers and layers of jackets, which was kinda weird, because it wasn't that cold out. He had an aeon too, though," he pointed out.

Clarus turned to look at Regis and blinked. "Could it possibly be the same man?" he asked.

"He had almost yellowish eyes," Noctis said, as the small detail entered his mind. "Kinda brown, but almost yellow. And I remember that I was... I didn't trust him. Like, almost immediately. He cornered me when me and Prompto were trying to investigate a spike that Luna sensed." Thinking back to that night would have amused him, if he let it. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a couple of months.

For a couple of seconds, silence completely enveloped the area, and Noctis looked between his dad and Uncle Clarus while they exchanged a bit of silent communication. Noctis recognized the look on his father's face—which set a shot of emotion through his chest against his volition, because it was something he thought he'd never get a chance to see again—as one that he wore when something serious had just happened. Noctis wasn't sure exactly what the something serious was, but if it involved the burgundy haired man from Piztala, all those months ago, he had a feeling that it wasn't good.

"Did you get his name?" Regis finally spoke again, looking Noctis squarely in the eye and allowing a tiny bit of hope to cross his face.

Noctis shook his head no. "I didn't get a chance," he explained. "Before I could even really talk to him, I got this really bad headache and passed out. And then I woke up and I had my aeon. Or, well, I think that's how I got my aeon, because otherwise, it just sort of came to me and I..." He trailed off, huffing a humorless laugh. He didn't know anything. Not really.

This time it was Regis who placed his hands on Noctis' shoulders. His expression was serious, like it was back in the day when he'd needed to lay down some sort of law, and Noctis wasn't sure what was coming, but he was sure it was important. "I need you to do me a favor," he told Noctis.

"Anything," Noctis answered. And he meant it. Anything in the world.

After casting a glance over his shoulder at Clarus, the pair of them nodded at one another, and then Regis turned back to look at Noctis. "I need you to tell Weskham and Cor about this man. Describe him. You probably already told them about him, but I need you to describe him as you just did to me. If I am not mistaken, he is someone we've encountered in the past. If he is the same man, then it's entirely possible that he is responsible for the extension of Hour Twenty-Five."

Blinking hard, Noctis looked inquisitively at his father. Really? The burgundy haired man had seemed suspicious, but if he had something to do with _anything_ , wouldn't he have shown himself again? Still, his dad and Clarus seemed sure somehow. Usually, if they were sure, they were right. Not always, but often enough for Noctis to put aside his own doubts and nod in response to his dad's request. He had said that he'd do it anyway, and he would have probably done it, regardless of how he felt or didn't feel about the request. It was just... weird.

"Yeah, okay. I will."

Regis nodded and smiled, placing a hand on Noctis' cheek. "I'm going to send you back now, my son. I want you to promise me, though, that you will come back and call on us whenever you need us." The concern was still plain as day in his expression, but it had faded just slightly, and replaced itself with the warm and gentle smile that Noctis remembered.

As the white-shift started, Noctis nodded desperately, and jumped forward, wrapping his arms tightly around his father's neck again. Tears streamed down his cheeks, having leaped up against his volition, and he buried his face in his dad's shoulder. "I promise, dad. I promise, I'll come back whenever!" he muttered against the fabric of his dad's shirt.

The last thing he felt before Crystal Space completely faded and he was jarred awake was the feeling of his dad's arms wrapped tightly around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;D ;D ;D
> 
> TOLD YOU GUYS YOU'D APPROVE OF THE GUIDE.


	11. Jealousy

It took more effort than Prompto would have liked to get everything back to Noctis' bedroom. Balancing a tray on one fully-working hand and a second that was working at half-capacity was... not the easiest thing Prompto had ever done. He'd managed, though. It took a stop—during which he set the tray on a decorative table that lined the hallway—to open the door, and a finagling kick with a leg that was still pretty sore to close the door again, but he'd managed. When he got there, he saw that Noctis was still sleeping soundly with the blankets pulled up to his chin. Haggard and stuffy breaths escaped through his mouth instead of his nose, and he was still a little bit pale.

Prompto set the tray of soup and tea down on the dresser, then sat on the edge of the bed and pressed his hand to Noctis' forehead. He felt a little bit less clammy than he had earlier, which was good. But he still looked sick. As much as Prompto wanted to say that he was concerned by the fact that Noctis hadn't even reacted to Prompto's hand on his head, he wasn't. He'd heard, a couple of months ago, that Noctis could sleep through pretty much anything, and since then he'd learned it to be true.

The only problem with that was that the silence gave him a chance to think. Now that he was thinking, he was thinking of all the information that had been thrown his way. If Ravus and Loqi were telling the truth, then Loqi was, but wasn't, his brother. Verstael was, but wasn't, his father. Depending on how he thought of it, he either had, or didn't have, a family. In some ways, it explained a lot. It explained why his dad never seemed to care about either of them. The blood experiments that his dad was doing explained why, as a kid, he'd always had those 'rashes' on his arms. They weren't rashes, that much was clear. They were needle marks, from when his dad had taken his blood to experiment on it. It was stupid of him to have denied it for as long as he had. Aranea and Cindy had been suspicious for years, and Ignis had all but confirmed it with the research he'd taken from Prompto's dad's old apartment.

Stupidly, he'd wanted to hold onto hope, though. Really stupidly.

Was that the whole reason his dad had kept him around? The whole reason he'd been born? No... _created_? He'd been created to be an experiment; to give blood so that his dad could experiment on it. He turned to look down at the underside of his elbow. It was clear now, but as he'd grown up, it was always covered in bruises and needle marks. To fulfill the reason for his creation.

This time, it wasn't the cold that choked him. It was everything that he'd learned catching up to him. Yes, there was a bit of solace to be found in the fact that he and Loqi were more related than he'd always been told. Except, even that solace was tainted by the fact that Loqi didn't seem to _want_ that connection. Ravus seemed to think that it would be okay, if he gave Loqi time, but Prompto wasn't so sure. For years, Loqi told Prompto that they weren't brothers; that they'd never be brothers. Now, depending on the viewpoint, he was proven either right or wrong.

It only made sense that Loqi would lean toward the side of them not being brothers, right? To keep the same viewpoint that he'd had his whole life? Prompto couldn't blame him. Change was scary, and Prompto had always hated it, too. A change like this was... it was world-changing. At the very least, it had to change Loqi's outlook on things.

Raising his arm, Prompto smoothed his fingers through his hair and stared over at the soup and tea where it sat on the dresser. He got up, and moved it over to the bedside table, then sat back down and looked over at Noctis. He wished that Noctis was awake, so that they could talk, but instead, he wrapped an arm around himself and leaned back against the pillows. It hurt, a little bit, the contact against his ribs, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to wake Noctis up.

The very second the thought entered his mind, though, he heard Noctis shuffle on the other side of the bed. He moved a little, hugging the blankets close, and then sniffled miserably, before sitting up and looking around the room. Awareness seeped in, and before Prompto could address him, he turned, blinked at Prompto, and then threw his arms around Prompto's shoulders, burying his face in Prompto's neck.

Surprised was an understatement, sure, but Prompto couldn't bring himself to be upset. It hurt just a little, where Noctis' arm impacted with Prompto's shoulder, and where their chests touched, where Noctis' ribs touched his, but once again, Prompto didn't care. He wasn't sure why Noctis needed the hug, why he could feel the hot moisture of tears against the bare skin of his neck, but he _did_ know that he needed the embrace, too. Prompto leaned his face into Noctis' hair, ignoring the way that a few of his bedhead strands made their way beneath his glasses and tickled his eyelids.

"Are you okay?" Prompto murmured against his skin.

Noctis was quiet for a few more seconds, but then he finally answered. "No," he said, though with the flu ravaging its way through his body, it sounded more like he was saying 'doh.' That brought the tiniest smile back to Prompto's face. "I mean, yes. But no..." He sniffled again, lifting his head and meeting Prompto's eyes.

With one hand, Prompto smoothed a little bit of hair from Noctis' face and asked, "what's the matter?" His own issues were temporarily forgotten. "Nightmare, or..."

Shaking his head no, Noctis sighed, looking down at the bed in front of him. "No, I..." Breathing a slow and deliberate breath through his mouth, he gathered a couple of tissues and dabbed at the bottom of his runny nose. "I got pulled to Crystal Space in my sleep again." He glanced at Prompto, blinking away some more tears and using the same tissue to dab at the ones on his cheek.

"Oh!" Prompto replied, his eyes shooting open. "Oh, did you meet your new guide? The real one?"

Noctis nodded. "Mhm," he answered.

Now, his own issues were the furthest thing from his mind. They were still there, sitting in the corner and poking at him, making him feel a little bit worse than he already did, but it was easy to ignore it in light of the fact that something was distressing Noctis to the point that he was crying. Prompto had only seen Noctis cry once, back on the riverbank at the compound. He'd been in a bad place then, but there was something different about these tears. In spite of them, and in spite of the fact that he looked like he still felt miserably sick, Noctis had the tiniest smile on his face. When he spoke next, Prompto understood why.

"It's my dad," Noctis spoke, his voice lilted like it was full of happy emotion. "My dad, Prom! And my Uncle Clarus! My dad said that it was the person I most wanted to see. And... Prom, I got to see my dad again..." His eyes were still welling over with tears.

Noctis' dad. Prompto couldn't help but blink, and maybe feel a little bit of jealousy rise up. It was stupid and unfair. Noctis deserved his dad. Especially with all the heartache that he'd felt over the past year or so, Noctis _really_ deserved his dad. At the same time, though, it was hard not to feel a little bit of jealousy. Between the news he'd just gotten about not having a mother, or even really a _father_ , the fact that Noctis got to see his father again... Maybe it was stupid, but Prompto had thought that the fact that neither of them had their familial connections was something that bonded them.

It wasn't now, though.

He was mad at himself for even thinking it. Noctis had been so sad, so raw and emotional, when he'd talked about his dad at the river bank. Every single time someone brought his dad up, he flinched a little bit. It was a sore subject, so Prompto felt like a terrible person, kind of, for his jealousy.

With that in mind, he shook it off, and tried to bring a smile to his face. It was as honest as he could make it, because despite his stupid jealousy, he really _was_ happy for Noctis, happy that Noctis had a chance to see his dad, to say the things that he never really had a chance to say before his dad died. Or, maybe even to hear from his dad that nothing that happened was his fault. That, more than anything, made the smile on Prompto's face all the more genuine. Maybe Noctis would be less inclined to blame himself now.

Prompto met his eyes, placing his hand on top of Noctis'. "That's great," he told his friend honestly. "Really great."

When Noctis met his eyes, though, he could tell that he hadn't really projected the honest and genuine happiness that he'd meant to. The way that Noctis was looking at him in concern, in gentle appraisal, even with his eyes puffy from both illness and emotion, made Prompto want to shrink back a little further. "Prom?" he urged. "You okay?"

Wincing, Prompto tried to pretend that he wasn't upset. That he wasn't jealous. It was pretty clear that he'd failed, though. "I... yeah! I mean... I'm okay. I just..."

Before he could finish his sentence and derail Noctis' happiness, he shook the jealousy away and reached over to the bedside table for the soup. "Just still feeling a little bit sick," he explained. A lie, and an obvious one, probably. "Here. I brought soup and tea with me. If you want some." He positioned the TV tray over them, so that they could both access it easily.

Noctis watched him for a couple of seconds in appraisal, like he obviously didn't buy Prompto's story. At first, it looked like he was going to ask. When Prompto didn't look at him, though, and instead busied himself with moving one of the tea cups over toward Noctis, he tried to push the guilt from his mind. There was nothing wrong with letting Noctis feel his happiness, right? He'd earned it. All the sadness that he'd been through in his life, he'd earned more than the happiness of seeing his dad again. Even in a place like Crystal Space. That was how he rationalized it being okay.

Even though Prompto wasn't looking, though, he could feel Noctis' eyes on him. Not angrily, but he could feel the concerned gaze as it bored its way through the side of his head. Prompto didn't return the gaze, instead grabbed his spoon and stirred his soup up a little bit.

"Are you okay?" Noctis finally asked.

Prompto frowned. Frustration bubbled up at the fact that he couldn't even seem to hide his stupid emotions from Noctis. "I'm... yeah. I'm fine," he nodded, trying to sound reassuring. "You should eat some of this soup. And drink your tea. Okay? It's not the stuff you like, but you probably won't even taste it. Right?" He could only manage a weak smile.

It was equal parts surprising and not when it seemed that Noctis caught on. He took his spoon and stirred it around in his soup, before eyeing the tea for a second and then turning his attention to Prompto. "Did I do something? Like, are you mad at me or-"

"No!" Prompto rasped, his sick voice not allowing him to put as much sincerity into his insistence that he wasn't mad at Noctis. But he wasn't. "No, I'm... I'm not mad! I just..." He paused, smoothing a hand through his hair and then turning to look at Noctis sadly. "I didn't want to, you know... take the focus away from you seeing your dad. Because that's great, Noct. Like, really great. You deserve it, and-"

Noctis shrugged. "If you're upset about something, it's not like you're, y'know... being selfish or anything..."

Wasn't that exactly what he was doing, though? He stirred his soup and then cast a sidelong glance in Noctis' direction. "I'll make you a deal, then," he spoke, managing another tiny smile. "You drink that whole thing of lemongrass tea? I'll tell you everything. But you also have to promise me that you won't, you know... get mad at me for being a mood downer." He chuckled softly, humorlessly.

Curling his lip at the teacup, Noctis turned to look at Prompto with playfully unimpressed eyes. "That's a cheap shot, Prom. I wouldn't get mad at you anyway and now I have to drink gross tea," he teased as he picked up the cup and looked inside.

"You won't even taste it," Prompto countered with a gentle poke to Noctis' thigh.

Noctis puffed out a breath. "Doesn't matter," he insisted. "I'll still know it's there. But..." Another sigh, more dramatic than the last, and immediately followed with a miserable sniffle and a hand to his head. "You're lucky it's worth it."

Worth it to hear him whine and complain more about his family? Prompto suddenly found himself wondering if Noctis was crazy or something. He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he just huffed a stuffy breath of laughter and then shrugged his lip. "See if you still think so after I tell you..." he murmured. He really didn't mean it. Somehow, even if he was him and Noctis was _Noctis_ , he really didn't think Noctis would ever just suddenly decide that he wasn't worth the effort anymore.

That was more trust than Prompto had ever put in anyone in his life, and it was simultaneously nice and terrifying. He would think about that later, though. At the moment, Noctis was taking a slow sip of his lemongrass tea, and that meant that Prompto had to keep up his end of the bargain. So, he did. Idly stirring his soup, he started the story.

"So, this isn't canned soup," Prompto started. It was pretty tangential, but Noctis started stories like that all the time. A sign that they spent too much time together, probably.

Noctis turned his eyes toward the bowl of soup, and then he looked back at Prompto with an eyebrow quirked. "Who made it?"

The simple, one-word answer wasn't really simple at all. "Loqi." He took some soup onto his spoon and looked at it. He didn't want to see Noctis get that same look on his face that he always got when he was talking about Loqi and how much they hated each other.

Except when he _did_ look, Noctis was looking at the soup suspiciously. "So... it's probably poisoned, then?" he commented in a nasal, but no less sarcastic, voice.

Prompto shook his head no. "N-no. No, um... he took some for himself and Ravus, too, and I don't think he'd poison Ravus, but I definitely know that he wouldn't poison himself." As if to prove his point, and maybe to sort of tell Noctis that he trusted Loqi a _tiny_ bit, Prompto took the spoonful of soup and brought it to his lips. It was good. Surprisingly good, actually. A weak smile crossed his face again.

"So, what does Loqi making soup have to do with why you're so down?" Noctis asked, taking another slow sip of his tea. Even if he didn't like the flavor, the temperature probably felt good to his stuffy nose and clogged airways.

Sighing softly, Prompto shrugged a shoulder. "I got him to talk. To tell me why he's been acting so weird. And I'm like... really confused. I don't know whether to believe him or not, and I kind of want to but I also kind of don't. I'm... I dunno." He turned his gaze toward the room Loqi and Ravus were using.

It was obvious that Noctis was worried now. He had completely abandoned his tea, and he was looking over at Prompto fully. His whole body was turned, his eyes were locked on Prompto's face, and his hand sought out Prompto's, wordlessly suggesting that he drop his spoon and twine their fingers. Prompto did willingly, and looked back at Noctis fully now. His eyes were questioning, and his cast-covered arm moved toward Prompto to brush some hair from his face with warm fingertips.

"You can tell me, Prom. It's... it's really okay," Noctis insisted.

Except, it really wasn't as easy as just tell him. A promise was a promise, though, and Prompto breathed a heavy breath before nodding his head. "So, when they looked through the journal, the one that Ignis was looking at?" he started. And then he told Noctis everything. Every single thing. How his dad wasn't so much his father as he was a DNA source. Not even in the sexual sense, either. He explained that his father was using the blood that he took from Prompto, from Loqi, and probably from Noctis, for some sort of experiment. That none of them knew what the experiment was. He explained that his dad had created both Prompto and Loqi to be obedient.

With a laugh, he mused, "that failed pretty bad."

Noctis seemed completely shocked, and he squeezed Prompto's hand gently. "Jeez, Prom. And here I was going on about-"

Prompto shook his head. "No. No, I really _am_ glad that you got to see your dad, Noct. You deserve it. You deserve more than that, really, but... it's just really, really lousy that they happened on the same night," he laughed humorlessly.

Sighing softly, Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah."

As he stared into his soup bowl like it held some sort of mystery answer or something, Prompto shrugged his head to the side. "And since Loqi and I were both literal chips off the old block, I'm not sure if that makes us brothers, or... or if we're something else. You know?" The soup didn't hold the answer to his questions. "I kind of want us to be," he confessed, turning his gaze back to Noctis. "But Loqi doesn't. I don't think."

The sadness and concern on Noctis' face morphed into frustration then. "He doesn't deserve to," he answered simply. "He doesn't-"

"No," Prompto shook his head. "No, I... I mean, listen. Yeah, he was a total jerk to me. No, I haven't forgotten and I don't think we'll ever have a perfect family relationship where we buy each other Christmas presents and talk about the good old days together. But Noct, you don't understand. My dad was just as rough on him as he was on me. Maybe worse." Before Noctis could keep going, Prompto swallowed thickly and continued. "Dad controlled everything about his life. What he ate, who he spent time with... Loqi can fight, but dad never let him onto the field. Even though he has an aeon. Dad like... I'm not sure why dad freaked out over him like he did. No, I don't think it gives Loqi the right to be mean to people, no. But... I get it."

Noctis frowned. "You deserve a better family than you have," he muttered.

With a soft laugh, and a genuine but very weak smile, Prompto shrugged. "I mean, I've got one now. And I want... I want Loqi to be part of it, too."

"He's lucky to have you. To have you wanting to _be_ his family," Noctis pointed out. "Really lucky." He glanced over at his bowl of soup, stirred it around, and took some onto his spoon.

Prompto breathed a sound that wasn't quite a laugh, but wasn't just a normal breath either. "It almost sounded, for a little while, like he wanted to be brothers, too. You know? He was saying stuff like... how he's a coward because we wouldn't be estranged if he wasn't. And he seemed like he was sorry, Noct. He never... he never, said it or anything. But it seemed like it." He stirred his soup around again, watching as little bits of vegetable and spices floated to the top. "It's probably dumb. I shouldn't want-"

But Noctis stopped him before he finished, with a hum of disagreement. "No," he insisted. "It isn't dumb, Prom. I... it's not like you're not a person, you know? Yeah, there were some... circumstances, I guess, behind your birth-"

"It wasn't a birth," Prompto corrected. "It was a creation. He made me. Remember?"

Noctis frowned. "It might not have been like... you might not have been _born_ in the traditional way, but you still have a birthday, right? So... it's a birth," he insisted, squeezing Prompto's hand. "And Loqi is still your brother. So, no. I don't think it's dumb that you want to be his brother." His face very plainly said that he didn't _like_ the idea, but that he understood it.

It made Prompto smile even so. Noctis always made sure that he never felt like he was weird or lame or stupid for feeling the way he felt. Not only that, but even after learning all of the weird and less-than-flattering things about him, like the fact that he _didn't_ really have a normal and standard birth, and that his dad was using their blood for some ungodly experiment... he still didn't run away screaming. He looked down at their locked hands, and then up at Noctis, examining his face closely. His eyes were still puffy from the illness, and his hair was wild and unruly from having slept all day, but he was still perfect. Swallowing nervously, and then breathing a heavy breath through his mouth, he gestured toward Noctis' soup. When he picked up the spoon, stirred it a little, and then filled the spoon with just chickatrice meat and broth, Prompto barely held back a little chuckle. Ever the vegetable hater.

"I can't do this whole thing without you, though. Can you, you know... try? With me?" Prompto asked, meeting Noctis' gaze with the slightest bit of hope in his own. "To be nicer to Loqi. And to Ravus, too?" Before Noctis could argue, Prompto swirled into explanation mode. Possibly over-explanation mode. "I know you probably don't want to. 'Cause the stuff between you and Ravus is really old and really deep down. And you and Loqi have gotten into fights twice. And the more I talk the more I realize that I'm pretty much asking you for the moon, so-"

Noctis laughed a breath and then shrugged his head. "You ask me for the moon, I'd probably get it for you," he murmured under his breath, raking his teeth over his lip. "And trying to get along with Loqi and Ravus is probably easier. So..." He took another spoonful of soup, and then refused to meet Prompto's eye. In the dull light offered by the bedside lamp, Prompto clearly saw a light dusting of red on his cheeks again.

Prompto, too, felt warmth in his cheeks. Noctis always knew what to say to make him blush, honestly. "Um... thanks," he muttered, picking his tea up and taking a long and slow sip from it to keep himself from speaking up and saying anything stupid.

It was quiet for a couple of seconds, and then Noctis finally laughed a soft note. "I just woke up and I'm already exhausted again," he murmured. "Both of us had a _lot_ of information thrown at us in a very short time."

"What, um... what did your dad have to say? It's really cool that he's your guide, by the way. I'm really, really glad you get to see him. You deserve it," Prompto finally said. An embarrassed and selfish feeling bubbled up. Prompto wasn't the only one who'd had his world flipped on its head, but as usual, Noctis had listened to him first; had let him work through his own stuff first.

Sighing a soft note, Noctis shrugged his head to the side. "A lot. He said... something about that guy with the burgundy hair. Remember? From Piztala?"

Wow. That was someone that Prompto hadn't thought about in months. He almost wished that he didn't have to think of the guy _now_ , but if Noctis' Crystal Space guide had mentioned the guy, well... it couldn't be good. Honestly, Prompto had never really had good experiences with burgundy-haired people. For the second time in three months, Prompto found himself thinking back to his childhood, and the nameless man who always visited his father. All Prompto remembered about him most of the time was feathered, burgundy hair, a fedora, and amber-yellow eyes that always seemed to chill Prompto (and even Loqi, if Prompto was remembering properly) to the core. It was one of the things that he tried to block out most of the time, but Prompto still didn't know how he hadn't made the connection before.

Could they possibly be the same man? Prompto paused, blinking, and turned to look at Noctis. "You know... w-when I was a kid..." he stammered, just the thought of the man making him feel nervous all over again, "there was this guy. He always used to come to the apartment. He had feathery burgundy hair, wore a hat, and had these creepy-"

"Almost-yellow eyes..." Noctis finished, his expression sinking.

Prompto swallowed nervously. "Yeah..." he answered. It couldn't be coincidence, could it? He allowed himself the tiniest bit of hope that he _wasn't_ relevant. Stupid, probably, since it seemed like he really was. "What about him?" Immediately, he wondered if he would regret asking.

Noctis frowned. "Dad says he thinks the guy has something to do with Hour Twenty-Five getting longer. I'm supposed to talk to Weskham and Cor about it. And Ignis when he gets up, but..."

Honestly, Noctis didn't even need to finish his sentence. The guy was _creepy_ , if it was the same guy. He'd always been borderline obsessed with Prompto and Loqi when they were kids. If it was him, then it probably wasn't outside of the realm of possibility that he was behind Hour Twenty-Five getting longer. Right? Not to mention, if he was, did that mean that Prompto's dad was, too? Suddenly, Prompto's appetite was gone, and he abandoned his spoon to look down at the bowl blankly and breathe in a shuddering breath. Almost immediately, Noctis' arms wrapped around him in a loose but comforting hug. Prompto leaned in close, resting his head on Noctis' shoulder, and allowing the rest of the night to catch up to him. His eyes welled over, and he clung to Noctis tightly, letting everything loose, and bawling in Noctis' shoulder. Noctis' warm hand rubbed gentle circles against his back, and before Prompto even realized what was happening, he'd cried himself to sleep in Noctis' arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE PLOT THICKENS. :o
> 
> Also: yes, heyjealousy titles a chapter 'Jealousy.' XD


	12. Hospital

Finally, halfway through the third day, Ignis awoke from his aeon coma. Noctis still wasn't a hundred percent flu-free, but he was past the point that he was contagious. So, he'd rushed alongside the others to get to the hospital to see his oldest friend, and meet with the rest of the team to brief Gladio and Ignis on the situation. He and Prompto arrived almost last; they'd had to move a little slower because of Prompto's crutches, after all. Noctis was glad that, when they got home from Altissia, the pair of them had appointments at the Lestallum hospital to get checked over. Noctis' arm was mostly better, and he was pretty sure that when he _did_ get to his appointment, he'd be getting his cast off.

Prompto, too, was doing a lot better. He could put weight on his knee now, a lot more than he'd been able to before. They could comfortably hug each other normally, without much pain beyond an initial twinge... they were almost ready to take on hunts again, and Noctis couldn't deny that he was _beyond_ ready to get back on the field; back to business.

Now, though, that wasn't important. Now, as they rode the elevator in the hospital, what was important was getting to see Ignis and making sure he was okay. No one had said that he _wasn't_ okay, but the only one that the group had seen with a longer aeon coma had been Noctis himself, so Noctis was more than a little bit worried. Once they left the nurse's station and headed toward Ignis' room, he turned to look at Prompto, who looked like he was lost in thought. He'd looked like that a lot, honestly, since the pair of them had discussed the burgundy-haired man and his role in both of their lives. Noctis was horrified to find that the man had taken part in Prompto and Loqi's lives since they were kids. The fact that Prompto had described him as having an "obsession" with them when they were kids was definitely pretty worrisome, too.

Everyone else, especially Weskham and Cor, had shared that opinion, too. Cor especially, had seemed livid. _Furious_ , even. Weskham had needed to remind him that they didn't know the man's identity, and even then, it had seemed like he wanted to take off and start a search for information. Noctis didn't blame him. If he'd decided to, Noctis would have been right there with him, flu be damned. It seemed like Ravus felt pretty much the same way, which made sense, because of the connection to Loqi.

Loqi, too, had looked pretty dismal at that meeting. Every time the burgundy-haired man was mentioned, he and Prompto exchanged harrowed looks. Looks of fear, like the man had legitimately terrified them as children. Even Loqi, who had been closer to their dad, looked legitimately scared. At one point, it looked like he had to fight against the urge to lean closer to Ravus. Noctis may not have remembered anything about this man, other than the fact that he was an imposing presence that made Noctis feel incredibly uncomfortable the one time that they'd met, but that was enough. Especially now that it seemed like even _Loqi_ shared the same anxiety.

Part of Noctis wondered if delivering the news to Ignis so fresh off of bed rest was a good idea, but if Noctis knew his oldest friend at all, he knew that Ignis would want to know.

Prompto was so distracted on their walk up to Ignis' hospital room that Noctis was endlessly grateful for the hold he had on his friend's hand as they walked down the hall. No fewer than five times, he'd had to direct Prompto away from chairs and walls and even people, because he'd seemed so lost in his own head. He'd been wracking his brain for any clue about the burgundy-haired man's name, ever since Noctis had made that revelation. It wasn't an Ignis situation, but Noctis had promised Cor, Aranea, and Cindy that he'd keep an eye on Prompto before it got to that point.

"Careful, Prom," Noctis told him calmly, as he gently tugged Prompto out of the path of a pair of chairs. "You're just getting better. Don't wanna hurt yourself all over again."

A couple of seconds passed, during which Prompto looked around and huffed a humorless laugh. "Totally spaced, didn't I?" he asked, stopping and moving off to the side of the hall. "It's just... I _know_ that I can remember the guy, Noct. I remember his face and I mean... I don't _know_ if my dad ever told me his name, but... but if he did, it has to be in there somewhere, doesn't it?" He glanced at Noctis with hope in his eyes.

With a nod, Noctis smoothed his fingers gently through Prompto's hair. "I know. You're right. But the thing about memory is that it doesn't always come back when you want it to, you know? Trying to force it back probably won't do anything but make you more and more upset, and you don't wanna lose it, right? Like... y'know... Iggy did." Noctis looked down at the floor. He felt guilty even saying it.

As Prompto glanced down the hall toward Ignis' room, he frowned. "I get how he felt now, though. I mean, I kinda got it before. But... but now it's like... this is something that only I—well, Loqi and I—can do. Or else, how are we gonna find out who he is?" He leaned back against the wall, slumped helplessly, and met Noctis' eyes.

It bothered him, and of course it did. This was supposed to be their week, but as usual, when something went well in Noctis' life, daemons and Hour Twenty-Five saw fit to take it away. Now, just by being in Noctis' life, Prompto was all caught up in it, too. No, Prompto probably wouldn't have been better off with Verstael or anything, but... at least he wouldn't be stuck wracking his brain about things that he couldn't remember. It wasn't fair. Prompto deserved better. Pushing those thoughts away for now, Noctis reached a hand up and pushed Prompto's glasses up his nose a little, flashing his friend a tiny, weak smile.

"Those glasses really do look good on you," Noctis told Prompto, trying to distract him a little bit.

Prompto blinked in response, the tiniest little grin quirking across his lips. "That's... that's not really related, but that's okay..." he chuckled softly, a light flush overtaking his cheeks. "Thanks."

More distraction. Noctis wanted to catch Prompto's attention and pull his mind away from the situation. He grabbed Prompto's hands and pulled him into a tiny nook that jutted off from the hospital hallway. "You know what we should do later? When we're done here?" he asked, loosely pinning Prompto against the wall. It was alarmingly similar to the alleyway the other night, just minus the rain. There was a tiny voice in the back of his mind, wondering if a hospital hallway was the best place for this, but it was easily drowned out by now nice it felt.

Any hesitation died instantly when Prompto murmured, "wh-what?" against his ear in a quiet whisper.

Yeah. It was definitely the best idea. Noctis smirked, leaning down to press his lips lightly against Prompto's neck. "We should get dinner from a restaurant. And then go out to the pier my dad and I used to go to. Maybe fishing, but maybe we just picnic," he murmured softly against Prompto's flesh. "Just forget about the world for awhile."

Prompto breathed in slowly, steadily, smoothing his fingers through Noctis' hair. "Forgetting about the world does sound nice," he admitted.

Noctis smirked against the skin on Prompto's shoulder and hummed his agreement. "Like, you know, what this whole trip was supposed to be?" He lifted his head and pressed his lips against Prompto's. It was a brief kiss, but it was something of a promise for more of the same, if they went to the pier together. "Pretty sure we'll have to go home soon, now that Specs is awake, and I want to spend the rest of the time we've got, y'know. Together." Smoothing his fingers through Prompto's hair, he moved some of his friend's bangs from his face.

At first, Prompto just looked at him. He smiled a gentle and warm smile, and then placed a hand on the back of Noctis' neck, pulling him in for a kiss again. Harder this time; open-mouth and dancing tongues. The type of kiss that sucked the air out of Noctis' lungs, curled Noctis' toes, and practically made his hair stand on end. The kind of kiss that made Noctis _completely_ sure that he was in love. The hand that had smoothed Prompto's hair from his eyes found its way into his hair again, tangling into it and holding him there. Loosely, of course. He could get away if he wanted to. But the way he kissed Noctis harder told Noctis that he _didn't_ want to.

Just as quickly as the impulse overtook Noctis, the sound of a very familiar—very _unwelcome_ , for that matter—voice calling from the hallway, delivering a "hey! Lovebirds!" in an annoyed, raspy, mocking tone, completely shattered the moment.

The kiss broke, and Noctis turned to see Loqi and Ravus standing side by side. Ravus had his face in his hand, and Loqi was making a very exaggerated gagging motion, rolling his eyes, and looking at them in disgust. "You _really_ think now's the time for a full-blown make-out session? In the middle of a fucking hospital?" he asked.

"Loqi," Prompto croaked, red rushing to his face like someone had dumped paint over his head. "I, um... we were-"

Loqi rolled his eyes. "About to fucking bang in the middle of the hallway? At least take it to a supply closet or something. C'mon," he huffed in annoyance. "But if you're gonna do that, then you should _probably_ wait until after we go to this meeting." He turned to look at Ravus, who was still covering his face.

Ravus took the hand that had been covering his face, moving it to push white hair from his eyes. He turned to look at Prompto, who was wiggling his way out from between Noctis and the wall, and heaved a sigh. "Please don't mind him," he answered, though he wasn't meeting Noctis or Prompto's gazes. "The flu still has him irritab-"

"-but even if it _didn't_ , I really wouldn't want to see the pair of them fucking against a hospital wall in plain view of a security camera." Loqi waved his hand up toward the ceiling, to one of the weird, dome-like cameras.

That was what finally made Noctis blush. A camera. Aimed and pointed right down into the nook that they'd been standing in. So, some security guard, who the hell ever they were, probably had a full view of Prompto and Noctis' little impromptu make-out session. Noctis' ears felt like they were on fire, and his heart pounded. "We... we weren't gonna do _that_!" At least he didn't think they were.

Prompto shook his head no. "N-no! Not that!"

Curling his lip in disgust, Loqi shrugged his shoulders. "This is how much I want to hear what you did or didn't plan to do," he answered, before turning on his heel and walking down the hallway.

The commentary, admittedly, wasn't as harsh as Noctis expected it to be, but it was hard to really notice that when he was trying desperately not to die from embarrassment. He turned his eyes back toward Ravus and swallowed thickly. "We, um... it wasn't like we were going to... you know..." He trailed off.

Ravus shook his head and made a face. "Just because I'm playing the good cop here does _not_ mean that I want the details about whatever sexual deviance the pair of you were planning to act out," he commented, the sarcasm tinged with the tiniest bit of amusement, despite the over-dramatic shudder that he gave. "I want to hear that even less than I want to go to this meeting. The difference is that I _have_ to do that. Not this."

If it was possible to die from embarrassment, Noctis was pretty sure that he'd have been dead and buried a thousand times over as soon as Ravus and Loqi appeared in the hallway. Prompto, too, looked utterly humiliated, as the pair of them followed behind Ravus toward Ignis' hospital room. Noctis couldn't help but cast a couple of glances over his shoulder toward the camera. Then, his gaze turned down the hallway, half-expecting to see a security guard or something, running down the hallway to arrest them for public indecency. That was a thing. Wasn't it?

Fortunately, it ended up not happening. The pair of them stepped into Ignis' hospital room, seconds after Ravus did, and Noctis tried to will the red from his cheeks as he cast his eyes around the room to look at his friends. Crowe seemed to be instantly suspicious, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she opted to turn her glance toward Iris, who was moving the remnants of Ignis' dinner from the table and into the trash.

"You don't need to do that, Iris. I'm honestly feeling just fine and-"

Iris shook her head no. "How about you stop saying that, hm?" she asked.

Chuckling softly, Ignis nodded his head. "Very well, then. Eventually, you'll have to stop fussing over me and allow me to deal with my own life though, hm?" he teased her lovingly.

Gladio smirked a little bit. "C'mon, Igs. You should know by now that if Iris is involved, then there's pretty much a zero-point-zero-zero chance that she's gonna have any chill until you're at a hundred percent again." He cast a fond glance at his younger sister as she settled back into her chair next to Crowe.

Much to Noctis' surprise, though, the expression on Iris' face wasn't amused, or fond, or anything like that. She looked upset. Maybe a little bit annoyed. It was weird, honestly. Noctis couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Iris look as annoyed as she did right then. Even less the last time he'd seen it directed toward Gladio. She didn't smile at him, though. Didn't really smile at _all_ , until Crowe poked her in the ribs and gave her a pointed look.

"I mean," Iris finally spoke, " _someone_ has to take care of you idiots when you don't take care of yourselves." There was no sweet lilt of teasing in her tone. There was no playful smile on her face or in her eyes. The way everyone looked at her then said that Noctis wasn't even the only one to notice it. Even Loqi seemed to have picked up on it, and he'd known Iris for way less time than any of the others.

Noctis frowned. "Iris..."

She shook her head quickly, heaving a sigh. "Never mind. It's... it's been a long week, and it's only half over. Taking care of you guys and stuff, it's... I'm just tired. Sorry." Her hand found Crowe's then, and squeezed gently, silently asking for support.

"It makes sense," Crowe spoke up in her defense, her nose still just as stuffed as Noctis' was. "Moog's been running ragged. Between delivering groceries to you guys, taking care of my sniffly ass, and coming to make sure that Poindexter and Muscles were still in one piece, I'd be willing to bet she's been working harder than any of the rest of us."

Gladio frowned. "I told her she didn't need to come here every day. Not to run herself ragged, but..." He watched his sister closely, equal parts concern and confusion on his face.

But Iris still didn't meet his gaze, she just shrugged instead. "I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just tired. So..." Her attention turned toward Cor and Weskham, and she tilted her head inquisitively. "We're here to brief Iggy on everything we all already know, right? Everything that happened when he was out?" she asked.

Weskham nodded his head, but that didn't change the concerned expression that he was flashing Iris. "Yes, of course. The sooner we get all of this taken care of, the sooner you can get home and get some rest," he finished, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.

And so, they did just that. Weskham and Cor did most of the talking, briefing Ignis of exactly what had happened. That Noctis and Prompto knew about Prompto's birth now, and that they had some news on the burgundy-haired man that Noctis had spoken of so many months ago. The discomfort that passed through the air when Prompto and Loqi looked at each other then was almost like a visible wave. It obviously wasn't, but Noctis could feel it like it was his own.

Noctis couldn't help but notice that both of them were pointedly avoiding mentioning the fact that Noctis' guides were their fathers, but while he wished they'd say it for him, he also knew why they were hesitating. Iris already knew; she'd been there when they'd had their first meeting on the matter. She believed it, though Noctis wasn't sure if she believed it as much as she _hoped_ that it was true. Ignis would probably believe it, but Gladio would probably be skeptical. Since the mood in the room was already pretty tense, making it even worse was probably a bad idea.

Still, Noctis was done keeping secrets. So, he looked up at Weskham, then over to Cor, and said, "and then there's that other thing..." with a nervous expression on his face.

"Other thing?" Gladio asked, his eyes moving from person to person in the room.

Much to everyone's surprise, it wasn't Weskham or Cor who spoke up. It wasn't even Noctis. Iris looked at Gladio, still looking annoyed, and said, "Noct's new guide." She paused. "Or, guides, I guess." As she turned to look at Noctis, she shrugged a shoulder and flashed a tiny smile. An almost hopeful smile.

Ignis jumped to attention then, pushing himself up into a seated position in his hospital bed. "Noct has a new guide?"

With a nod, Luna went into extreme detail explaining the situation with Gentiana, how Gentiana had truly been Shiva, and had been sealed from her since she was a child. Noctis watched the genuine smile spread across Ignis' face when Luna showed him how much healthier she was. Their friendship was one of the longest-standing in the group as well, and Noctis knew that Ignis had researched her condition in the past. Seeing his friend in better condition than she'd been in more than a decade had to be emotional. Noctis was glad, at least, that it was a positive emotion. That Ignis seemed happy.

Luna and Ignis hugged each other, and when Luna stepped back, she glanced to Noctis expectantly. "However," she started, not taking her eyes away from Noctis as she spoke, "with Shiva and I reunited, Noctis needed a new guide. Or, rather, Noctis needed to meet the _guides_ that he should have had from the very beginning."

Now, Gladio looked like he was either curious or annoyed with the fact that everyone seemed to know what was happening but him. "So, are you gonna tell us who these guides are, or are you gonna make us guess, because-"

"Gladdy!" Iris snapped, and there was more anger in her voice than Noctis had ever heard her send her brother's way. "Give him a second, okay? It's not like it's something that's super easy to just say!" She commanded, her eyes narrowed. Calm came part way back when she turned to look at Noctis.

Of course, it didn't help that Noctis was feeling the pressure. His hand found Prompto's, the mood from before they walked into the room having completely diminished to nothing. Astrals, did Noctis hope that they could salvage it by going to the pier. Pulling in a deep breath and letting it out in a slow and steady stream, he turned to Gladio, looking his friend square in the eye. Prompto squeezed his hand, urging him gently, and admittedly, that helped him more than any internal preparations that he could have made.

His voice was level and calm, as he told Gladio. "It was our dads. Mine and yours. They were-"

"That's impossible." Gladio's voice was gruff and harsh with disbelief, but there was more hidden there, too. Surprise. Frustration.

Ignis' expression fell, and he looked at Gladio sharply. "Gladio," he chastised gently, already sounding more like the Ignis that Noctis had always known that he had in weeks, "you asked Noctis to explain. Noctis and Lunafreya are the only among us who have actually been in Crystal Space. Would you not think that they would know more about what is and isn't possible there than we would?"

Despite the fact that Gladio was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and the fact that he was looking from Ignis to Noctis in quiet disbelief, Noctis couldn't fight a smile. Ignis had just woken up, but already, he was in his normal form.

"Nice to have you back, Specs..." Noctis couldn't keep himself from saying.

Ignis turned to look back at Noctis, smiling a soft smile. "Not as nice as it is to be back, believe me," he commented bashfully. "Now, if you please, tell me more about what happened in Crystal Space."

There was both a little and a lot to tell, but Noctis told it all. He explained every detail to Ignis' eager ears, and to Gladio, who was also hearing it for the first time. How Crystal Space was supposed to respond to his desires, but since Gentiana was sealed there, she served as a temporary guide. How their dads had asked to see them, and how it was possible for Noctis to bring them along with him. He also mentioned that he kind of wanted to bring _everyone_ into Crystal Space; how he wanted the people who _knew_ their dads to be able to see them again, and how he wanted the people who had never met them to meet them. Even Loqi, honestly. They'd be able to get a clearer read on the situation than anyone else would.

When he finally got to the part about the burgundy-haired stranger, he squeezed Prompto's hand a little bit tighter. Loqi and Prompto glanced at each other again, and held one another's gaze this time. Noctis felt a little bit guilty for continually bringing the situation up, but he couldn't help it. It was important.

"Apparently, they had a run-in with him, too. Back in the day, I mean. He was talking to someone about extending Hour Twenty-Five, which..." Noctis trailed off. He honestly didn't need to continue. It was happening now.

Ignis hummed. "Which, given current events, is quite topical," he replied.

Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. I... I don't know what they talked about back then, or who the other person was, but it seemed, you know, important." He flicked his eyes over toward Gladio, who was looking at the floor with a multi-layered scowl on his face. There was disbelief there, but it was a weird disbelief, almost like he was afraid to believe.

It made sense. Noctis was afraid to believe it, too. If he hadn't been there, if he hadn't been to Crystal Space so many times, he probably _wouldn't_ have believed it. He looked at Gladio. "Your dad wants to see you, though. I mean... I know you don't believe me. I don't really blame you, either. B-but..." He glanced down at his hands, and then turned to look up at Gladio again.

Gladio huffed an annoyed breath. "You're right," he admitted. "I don't believe you." He glanced back up to look at Noctis, and then ticked his shoulder up in a shrug. "But I also didn't really believe you about aeons and whatever else in the beginning, and look how wrong I turned out to be there. I'll go," he finally said. "Whenever Igs gets outta here, we'll go. Right, Iris?"

The scowl on Iris' face softened to a frown, as she looked from Gladio to Noctis. "Yeah. I think we should all go, though. Because, like... it's not just me and you and Gladdy and Iggy who miss them. It's everyone. And they'd wanna meet Prompto and Aranea and Cindy. And Loqi, too," she pointed out, glancing over at Loqi.

Loqi looked surprised at being mentioned, but he shrugged at Iris. "I'm curious about Crystal Space. So that's fine."

"I'm curious, too," admitted Cindy as she turned to Aranea, who was nodding her agreement. "Me an' Nea have been talkin' about it since our last meetin'. If Noct's old man can give us any hints about the fella with the burgundy hair, maybe we'll remember him, too. We're older'n Prom and Loqi both, an' we've both been in Hammerhead our whole lives, so maybe we can dig up for info about 'im. I can at least ask Paw Paw if he remembers."

With a nod, Weskham huffed a gentle laugh. "I must admit, I'm mildly curious as to how Regis and Clarus are doing."

Gladio grunted his disapproval.

It seemed like Cor didn't really hold any skepticism, either, which both was and wasn't a surprise. He'd been around when Noctis' dad had gone to Crystal Space, so he'd known that Noctis' mother was his dad's guide, too. "I'd suggest, too, that we make a trip back to Hammerhead afterward," he paused, giving Loqi and Prompto an apologetic glance, "and ask Cid all of these questions in person."

Prompto nodded. "I wanna see Hammerhead, too. Just to, you know. Check on things since dad... since our dad... since, er... Besithia... left. Is that okay?" His gaze was mostly trained on Loqi, almost like he was asking his brother for permission.

"Huh? Why're you asking-" He stopped short. "I mean... yeah. That's fine..." he answered, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

Sighing a heavy note, Noctis glanced at Gladio again. He hadn't really expected for Gladio to believe him, but he'd sort of hoped. At the very least, though, he hadn't gotten too mad. And when Noctis brought him into Crystal Space, he'd see for sure. Noctis squeezed Prompto's hand a little bit tighter, a bit of comfort for both of them, and then breathed a soft sigh. They'd get answers eventually. Maybe. For now, at least everyone was awake and okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some emotions coming up soon! D: Brace yourselves, friends!


	13. Brothers

The entirety of the rest of the trip to Altissia was spent resting. Noctis and Prompto never got the chance to go to the pier. After the meeting, Noctis was emotionally drained, and he just wanted to sleep. Prompto understood. He more than understood, honestly, because he'd felt pretty similarly ever since Loqi came back into his life. There was too much happening at once, and not enough time to process it. At least, though, after two days, Ignis was cleared to go home.

As much as Prompto wanted to say that he enjoyed the time back at the compound, there wasn't really enough of it to truly be able to say so. They'd stayed one night, and then as soon as everyone got up the next morning, they were off to Hammerhead. While Noctis slept in the backseat of Cor and Weskham's car, Prompto listened to the two coordinators as they talked. He'd heard vague mentions of Hour Twenty-Five being up to an hour and fifteen minutes now, and how they would have to talk to Noctis about bringing everyone into Crystal Space with him when they got to Hammerhead.

Prompto couldn't help a bit of his own curiosity when it came to Crystal Space, honestly. The place was such a huge deal to Noctis. His dad was there, and even though Prompto was a little bit envious that his best friend got to be with his dad again, he also couldn't deny a little bit of curiosity about the man. What was he like? What would he think of Prompto?

Later. The answers could come later when they all grouped up back at the motel to go over the information they'd gotten in town that day.

For now, though... Prompto looked up at the old, familiar apartment building and sighed. It hadn't really been that long since he'd been here, but it almost felt like a lifetime. He thought of the situation the last time he was here. Running into his dad, running down the Hammerhead streets, hiding in an alley and vomiting up his breakfast... it made him wonder _why_ he'd opted to come here alone. Noctis was with Weskham, Cor, Gladio, and Ignis, at the hospital in Lestallum, getting his cast taken off, and Prompto almost felt like he'd have been better served there. It wasn't as though he didn't want to be there. He did. The car was full, though. Besides that, he had an appointment of his own a little bit later in the Hammerhead hospital, so he'd had to stay behind.

He was at the apartment building now, and as he looked up to the third floor, at the large window that he'd always thought would have made a nice nook, he decided that he was going to do it. No matter what.

Would he even be able to get in now? He still had the old keys, and from what he'd heard from Cid, no one had rented the place. So, there was no reason for them to change the locks, right? Prompto breathed a slow and steady breath, before opening the door to the first floor and walking inside.

Still the same, but it felt so different. Maybe it was the knowledge that his father kind of _was_ his real dad, in a weird, sci-fi way. Or maybe it was the fact that _he_ felt like such a different person now. Yeah, he was still a mess. Yeah, he was still nervous all the time and he still didn't have the most confidence in the world. But he didn't _feel_ as badly now. He felt happy. The new family he'd lucked his way into showed him that this wasn't the way people were supposed to live, and that showed him that, maybe, Aranea and Cindy had been right all along. Maybe he _did_ deserve this happiness.

It was that, more than anything else, which fueled him to walk up the stairs. The building still looked the same. Same corny art on the walls, the same chipped paint on the floors, same gaudy-as-hell wallpaper. It didn't feel the same. Or maybe, in a weird way, it did. It had never really felt like home. Now that Prompto knew what home was, though, it felt even _less_ like home. So, yeah; the same, but different.

As he fished his keys from his pocket once he reached the third floor, he couldn't help but laugh a soft and somber note at that. Maybe later, when he inevitably told Noctis about all of this, he'd be able to laugh a little more genuinely. Now, though... now all he could think of was the fact that his mind had brought him back here again.

"Must be a sucker for punishment," he murmured to himself as he slid the key into the lock. It still fit. He wasn't sure why that surprised him as much as it did.

A familiar voice sounded off from behind him, from the bottom of the stairs. "Well, if you are, then I must be, too."

It probably shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did to see Loqi there. Loqi had better memories here than he did, after all, right? As it stood, though, it was almost enough to send him tumbling down the stairs when he jumped and turned around. He raked his teeth over his lip, then turned to look back at the door, immediately having second thoughts. If Loqi wanted to be here, he probably didn't want Prompto here, right?

Turning to glance at Loqi, Prompto swallowed nervously. "I can... I can go if you want. I mean, you probably don't want me here. R-right?" he asked, taking the keys from the door.

Loqi shook his head no. "Don't worry so much, Arg—er, Prompto. Alright? You shouldn't worry about what I want or don't want. You should... you know, you shouldn't even want to be here. Why the hell are you here?" As Loqi regarded him, a weird flash of something unfamiliar crossed his face. Concern? His eyebrows knitted together and he didn't quite frown, but there was a slight downward turn to his lips.

"I... I don't really know," Prompto confessed. "I shouldn't want to be here, you're right. I guess I hoped... I thought..." His damned stutter. Every time he thought that he was a better or stronger or tougher person, it found its way back out in the open and proved how wrong he was.

Shaking his head, Loqi gestured into the apartment. "Same reason I'm here, probably. Trying to remember something about that fucker with the burgundy hair," he snorted a humorless sound.

Oh right. Maybe, if their dad had left anything behind, it would be here, right? But that wasn't why he was here. At least not that he was aware of. "N-no, it's more... it's more like," he paused, stepping into the apartment when Loqi guided him there. "I just wanted to, you know, look around. I wanted to see if everything was always horrible. Or... or if while I looked around, m-maybe I could see a happy memory or..." He wasn't really sure where to go from there, so he just trailed off and looked at the floor. It sounded so stupid.

Loqi's silence was nerve-wracking, too. He didn't say anything, and when Prompto turned his eyes up from the floor to meet gazes, Loqi sighed a soft and slow sigh. "Everything _was_ always horrible," he admitted. "Especially for you."

Especially for _Prompto_? That was definitely a surprise. He thought, if anything, Loqi would quantify his own struggle as harder or worse than Prompto's. The way he turned his eyes toward the ground, though, and breathed a slow and exasperated breath, told Prompto that wasn't the case. "I mean, hell," Loqi continued, "you had father _and_ me giving you shit. At least I only had father." He pressed his lips into a thin line.

"W-was it always like that?" Prompto asked. "I used to think that I remembered, you know, a time when we got along and everything. But I-"

Again, Loqi sighed and shook his head. "I know. I always told you that you were full of shit, right?" he replied with a bitter laugh. "You weren't. I didn't always act like that. You know? We acted like brothers once. Friends. It was a long time ago. A really long time ago. I barely even remember it, but..." He turned around, walking away from Prompto, and busied himself with walking around what used to be the living room.

Prompto simply blinked after him. "When?" he paused. "I mean... is it okay? If I ask?" The worry that Loqi would just snap back into his old ways had him backpedaling a little bit.

At first, it didn't seem like Loqi was going to answer. He simply sighed and glanced at the ceiling. "You gotta stop asking if it's okay if you ask. You, y'know, never need anyone's permission to ask anything. It's... it's fine. I just..." He stammered, then huffed a frustrated breath before turning his head to the ceiling.

"If it's hard, you don't have to..." Prompto told him. He didn't know why, honestly. He did want to know, and Loqi probably wouldn't tell him unless he made it seem like he _did_ have to.

Except, Loqi surprised him by shaking his head no. "No. No, it's okay. Rae and me were talking about this. How you don't owe me shit, but I owe you a lot. Especially explanations," he added, laughing weakly, halfheartedly, and turning to look at Prompto. "It was a long-ass time ago. We were both kids. You were like, two or three. Maybe four when it stopped. I was five or six or seven. I don't remember exactly. Mostly because father—because Besithia—tried to make me forget it. We played a lot. Besithia didn't like me hanging around with other kids, but he also didn't really like me hanging around with you too much. 'Acting too nicely will convince him that you really are brothers, and neither of us wants that.' That's what he always said."

Prompto frowned, staring at the ugly, wooden floor. It wasn't really painted, didn't really look like the floors in the compound's lounge; finished and always shined to a fault. "Why did you... I mean..." he stopped. Did he want to know the answer to this? He was going to ask Loqi why he stopped, why he listened. It was a mix of fearing the answer and not wanting to make things harder on Loqi than they already were that kept him from speaking up.

Initially, it looked like Loqi was going to take the out. He didn't speak up, just turned to look away from Prompto, out the nook window. When he finally did speak up, it didn't really have anything to do with the conversation. "You know, I always thought this nook would be a pretty cool place to curl up with a book. I always wanted to put a little love seat in here. Father—Besithia... whatever—never let me."

"Why not?" Prompto asked before he could stop himself.

Loqi laughed a bitter note. "He didn't want this place to feel like a home," he explained. "Didn't want us comfortable, because he always promised me that we'd pack up at the first chance we got and go back to Niflheim. This wasn't home. That was. S-so..." Uncharacteristic emotion coated his voice.

And now, their dad was back in Niflheim, and he'd left Loqi behind. Prompto felt a flash of sympathy for him. "I'm sorry he didn't take you with him," he offered, raising his head and daring himself to meet Loqi's eyes.

"Don't be," Loqi answered. "I mean, I am, too. I'm really upset that I don't even remember what the place I was born, or cultivated, or whatever, looks like. But, knowing what I know now? I don't think... I don't think I want to go with him. Y'know? If he's going to lie to me my whole life and tell me that he adopted me because my parents didn't care, just like how he lied to you? What kind of person even _does_ that?"

Prompto laughed bitterly. "The same kind of person who told me that no one would ever love me," he answered.

Huffing a humorless laugh, Loqi nodded. "You too, huh?" he asked, flashing a weak grin over his shoulder at Prompto. He shook his head hard and turned back toward the nook, leaning his hands on the windowsill and sighing heavily. "You were asking something. Before we started talking about Niflheim. What was it?" he asked.

Oh. Prompto half-expected that to fall to the wayside; to go unanswered. "I, um... oh. I was just wondering. Why? Why did you choose him over me?" He paused, wincing at how that sounded. "I mean, I know I'm not... I know it's not like I'm anything special, but... I was just wondering. W-why?"

This time, Loqi was completely taken off-guard. Prompto could tell, because he just stood there, his eyes wide and worried, as he leaned against the wall in the kitchen. Once again, he didn't answer immediately, but Prompto got the impression that it was less because of any sort of plan not to answer, and more because he was actually struggling to find a way to answer, for one reason or another. After a few more seconds of silent thought, he slid down the wall and sat on the floor, putting his head in his hands and sighing heavily. Finally, he looked back up at Prompto for a split second, before turning to look down at the floor again.

"I wish I could tell you," Loqi admitted. "I mean, I know that it's because he kept trying to tell me that you were some sort of defect. You know? He kept throwing that at me, and that's one of those things that, at seven, I didn't even know what it meant. I didn't know how horrible it was. When he explained it to me, and told me that it meant that you were broken? I believed him."

Prompto frowned. "He told you I was broken?" he asked.

Sure, Prompto had entertained the idea before, that there was something wrong with him, for a long time. He wasn't like most other people. He wasn't confident, he wasn't exactly the most comfortable around people, and he had that stupid, annoying stutter. Maybe that was what made his dad call him broken. Maybe that was what made _Loqi_ think he was broken. It made sense, and brought those sad thoughts back to the foreground of his mind for the first time in years.

Loqi nodded. "I believed him for a long time, too. Even after I learned what defect meant, what it _really_ meant, and not just what he told me, I thought it was just kind of, you know, his way of protecting me from whatever defection made him feel that way about you. I thought that he said it to protect me."

A new wave of sadness, stronger than Prompto had felt in weeks, washed over him in a wave. "A-and you started to believe him," he reasoned.

Again, Loqi nodded. "Yeah. Because he was so sure that you were this big failure who would never amount to anything. And then I saw you as you grew up. You know? You aren't a genius, but you're smart. You aren't super popular, but you have friends who would pretty much die for you. Highwind and Aurum, and now Caelum and his crew, too. I started realizing that you weren't a defect. That he was wrong. But I couldn't let myself think that. You know? Because if that was true, then what else was he wrong about? Was he wrong about me, too? Did I, you know, _need_ to keep you at arms length? I couldn't just... stop. I couldn't just let myself stop believing what he said was true, so I forced myself to believe it harder. And eventually, that part of me completely blocked out the part of me that questioned him."

"And you started to hate me even more." Prompto frowned.

Loqi huffed a bitter laugh. "It sounds so stupid."

Prompto wanted to tell him that it didn't. It did, though. "I mean, yeah. It does," he nodded his head.

Laughing a self-deprecating laugh, Loqi puffed out a breath through his nose. "Must sound really stupid if you're telling me it sounds stupid," he mused, then paused, shook his head, and grunted. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

With a nod, Prompto allowed himself the tiniest of weak smiles as he carefully, slowly lowered himself down to the floor to sit next to Loqi. Not too close, but not too far away, either. His knee was still tender and sore, but he didn't let it stop him. "I didn't either," he agreed. "What... what I meant was... you _are_ a genius. You should've known better." Prompto may not have known Loqi all that well, but he did know that Loqi was smarter than most people his age. Their dad bragged about it all the time.

"Should've. Didn't, though."

Prompto couldn't help but laugh at the simplicity of Loqi's answer. He shrugged and nodded his head. "I know it's hard to go against what dad wanted. I had a hard time with it for a long time. I... I'm still scared sometimes th-that he's gonna come back and, you know, yell at me. Because I don't stick to his stupid diet or I trust people or... you know, all of the stuff he always told us to do and not to do." Stupid stuff. Stuff that Prompto _started_ disobeying when he met Cindy.

Nodding, Loqi huffed. "I used to think you had it easier," he admitted. "Because, you know, he didn't flip out every time he saw you talking to someone he didn't sign off on. I thought it up until the other day, actually. Rae told me that you had it tougher, because you were literally alone until you met Aurum. I wasn't exactly swimming in popularity or anything, but father—Besithia, whatever—at least gave me the time of day. Taught me stuff. Let me help him with stuff. You didn't get that. You were literally..." He sighed and turned to look over at Prompto. "Alone. I didn't make it easier, either. Did I?"

As much as Prompto wished that he could tell Loqi that it wasn't that bad, that he didn't really need to blame things on himself or whatever, he wasn't wrong. "I didn't used to blame you or dad. I thought it was my fault. I still do, kind of. Because I didn't stand up for myself. I don't think I would if dad showed up right now and started tearing into me, either," he admitted.

"It's not your fault, though. It's mine."

Prompto shrugged. "And his," he added.

Loqi nodded his agreement with that and grunted a frustrated note. "Maybe. I didn't have to listen, though."

It wasn't an apology, but Prompto could almost sense the apology in it. Was it enough, for everything he'd put Prompto through for his entire life? Did it make up for all the time that he made Prompto feel like he didn't even deserve to breathe? No. Not really. It was more than he'd ever expected to get, though. Prompto shrugged his head to the side and looked over at Loqi.

"D-do you regret it? Ever, I mean? Listening to him a-and... and you know, letting him rule over you for so long and..." He stopped then. He wanted to ask if Loqi regretted ever stopping being brothers with him, but that wasn't really a fair question. They hadn't been like brothers since they were kids. If Loqi regretted it before now—if he even regretted it now, anyway—he'd had tons and tons of chances to take it back. That was a stupid question, and one that probably didn't have an answer that Prompto wanted to hear.

Except, it was too late. Most of the question was out there now, and Loqi looked like he was turning it over in his head. "For a long time, no I didn't," he admitted, his voice quiet. "Now, though? Now that I know everything and know that he was only manipulating me, telling me that he was the closest to family that I'd ever have? I... yeah. I do." He nodded, his eyes still down on the floor.

Prompto blinked. Did he dare allow himself to ask the same question as he'd asked the other day? The one that had sent Loqi running away like the kitchen was on fire? He was already pressing his luck pretty hard.

Before he had a chance to speak up, Loqi started up again. "I don't know if it means anything to you, Prompto. I know it's a hell of a lot to take back, so I'm not even gonna try and say that. I just..." he paused, scratching a hand through his hair and breathing out through his nose, hard and heavy. "I just wanted you to know that, you know, I'm sorry. For everything. I don't know if or how I can ever make it up to you. I'll try, though. If you even want me to..."

Never in all the time that Prompto could remember, had he ever been overcome with an urge to hug Loqi before. It was there now, though. And it was strong. Prompto wasn't the only one who had been victimized by their dad, it was just easy to forget because it always seemed like Loqi was so willing to do everything that their dad wanted him to. Honestly, he probably had been. Now, though, with some distance between them, it seemed a little bit more like he was only doing it for their dad's acceptance. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Loqi really _did_ have some sense of loyalty to their dad. The Loqi he was looking at right now, though, seemed like a completely different person.

That, more than anything, was what spurred Prompto to ask the question from the other day again. "D-do you think, maybe, we could try to learn to be brothers?" he asked. "I... I know it's not an answer to the question you asked, but I think... I think we're more family now than we've ever been. You know? S-so..." He paused, then looked away from Loqi. "I get it if it's too much. I just-"

"It's not too much," Loqi told him. "It's... I know I didn't react so well last time you asked. I just... it was all so much information, so fast. You know? And you took it so much better than I did when I found out." He laughed bitterly.

Prompto shrugged and laughed a note at his own expense. "I went into Noct's room and cried," he told Loqi flatly. "Like you said... i-it was a lot. At once. Plus, Noct got to see his dad, and I was jealous. Finding out that our dad both is and isn't our dad was-"

Loqi shook his head. "Don't call him our dad. That's what Rae keeps telling me. He doesn't deserve it. You know?" He frowned. "Look at what he put us through growing up. The apartment we lived in. You know, I didn't know what a real apartment looked like until I went to tour colleges in Altissia?" he asked.

Arching an eyebrow, Prompto murmured, "you didn't go to college, though. Did you?"

Eyes lowered to the floor, Loqi shook his head no. "Father—Besithia—wouldn't let me. I got into the University of Accordo in Altissia, and he kept saying that he didn't want me that far away from him. For the blood work. You know? So, I didn't..." Instead of finishing his sentence, he shook his head no again. 

Prompto frowned. His whole life, he'd always thought that their dad—that Verstael, Besithia, whoever he was—treated Loqi better than he treated Prompto. Knowing that it wasn't true didn't feel as good as Prompto thought it would. Not that he _wanted_ to feel good about the fact that Loqi had been just as miserable as he was, but he'd thought that it would give him a sense of camaraderie, or something. All he really felt instead was sad. Maybe there was a flash of anger in there, too, at the fact that Loqi had been through almost as much as him. They'd been going through the same thing, in the same house, and never even really knew it, because they'd been pitted against each other since they were kids.

Instead of saying all of that, Prompto looked back up at Loqi again, laughed a humorless note, and said, "imagine what he'd say if he could see us now."

"Well, he'd probably start by telling me how much I'm letting him down by not doing his whole stupid 'defect' thing that he jammed into my head about you." Try as Prompto might, he couldn't fight a tiny flinch when Loqi said the word defect. "Then he'd probably try and claim that we both hold some kind of loyalty to him, because we're both back here."

Cringing, Prompto shook his head no. "N-no. No way. Not even a little," he shook his head vehemently.

Loqi laughed a note that was half-sad, half-amused. "You're not kidding," he agreed. With a soft sigh, he turned to look at Prompto, pulling himself to his feet and reaching a hand down to help Prompto up. "You know, I think I do want to try to learn to be brothers. Partially because I wanna prove him wrong, but... also partially because part of me. Because I want to. If you still want to, I mean..." His voice was an awkward murmur, and he looked down at the ground, like he expected Prompto to take his offer back and say no.

Prompto nodded his head, unable to keep a small smile from spreading across his face. "Y-yeah. I mean, I've wanted to since, y'know... since we were kids. So," he ticked his shoulder up in a shrug. He'd pretty much chalked it up as impossible, though. 

Honestly, Prompto could almost see the awkward silence that passed through the air. It was almost like a wind, blowing waves of awkwardness between them. Prompto huffed a gentle laugh. "Th-this... this is usually the part when people hug. But you-"

With a breath of nervous laughter, Loqi tilted his head to the side. "Never been much of a hugger, but... we're brothers. Right? So, it's what normal siblings do, isn't it? Do Amicitia and Tiny Amicitia do it?" He waved dismissively off in the direction of the motel.

"Usually. We don't have to. It's okay. We're still new to this," Prompto laughed. "Instead, why don't we g-go get pizza or something? Maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure out more about this burgundy-haired guy..." The stutter was annoying, but it was honestly expected. This was new, and he still wasn't sure if Loqi would turn back to his old ways at any given second. What was more surprising was the fact that Loqi hadn't commented on it yet.

Loqi half-smiled. "You know, I've always been curious about pizza. Besithia would never let me have it," he admitted.

Prompto stared back at Loqi with wide eyes. "You've... h-he never let you have pizza?" He beckoned with one hand, pointing a thumb over his shoulder as he started backing toward the door of the old apartment. "Takka sells slices at the diner. Let's go. If you want."

To be honest, Prompto wasn't sure if he was surprised or not when Loqi followed. He _also_ wasn't sure if this was the best thing in the world, but he felt pretty good about it at that moment. As he and Loqi walked out of the old apartment together, though, it almost felt like they were closing the door on that old part of their lives, when they were pitted against each other, and starting a new one. A new one where they could actually be brothers, and maybe friends. He was a little bit nervous, sure, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat happy, and somewhat hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a few more things to do before the Crystal Space thing! ♥ Hang tight, friends!
> 
> Also, don't forget! [Echoes in the Dark](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11412138) and [Different Side](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11433297) by [nicoleiacross](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross) have both updated! You should check 'em out! ♥ She worked really hard on giving another side to the story, so don't let 'em go ignored!


	14. Truths

Noctis hated hospitals.

It was an old, deep-seeded hatred. Probably less than mature, and it had to do with a combination of all the tests he'd had to undertake as kid, after his mom died, and the fact that they smelled like illness and felt like depression and loss. Whatever it was, it had him incredibly uncomfortable as he sat here, waiting for the doctor to come back with his rib x-rays. His arm was healed, and his cast was off, which was a combination between nice and weird. The skin beneath it was paler than he usually was, even, which was saying something, since he didn't usually have a whole lot of color. It was as white as a sheet, almost.

Maybe it would get better over time, but it wasn't like he spent a whole lot of time in the sun. Most of their work was carried out in the dark. It wasn't like he never saw the sun, though. He walked around with Prompto sometimes. Maybe they could go fishing together when they got back home to the compound. They'd never really gotten the chance to go in Altissia, and Lestallum was hardly as exotic as Altissia was, but Prompto wouldn't mind. He never minded.

That would probably have to come after the whole Crystal Space thing, though. Weskham and Cor had explained earlier that they wanted to do it sooner rather than later, and that it should probably happen when they all got back to Lestallum. Either tonight or tomorrow, whenever the whole rest of the group was awake and ready to go. Noctis was pretty excited for Prompto to meet his dad, to see what a real and _good_ dad could be like. He was pretty sure that they'd get along. Noctis' dad would approve. There was nothing to disapprove of. Prompto was amazing. The nicest person that Noctis had ever known.

With a soft smile at the thought of his friend, Noctis found himself once again tossing around the idea of finally being upfront with his feelings. It wasn't like he expected Prompto to run, but he'd _also_ never been in love before, so he didn't know exactly how to approach the situation. Maybe Ignis would have some advice. He didn't exactly know the story about when Ignis and Gladio had confessed their feelings to one another, but he knew that ever since Ignis woke up from his aeon coma, the pair of them had been ridiculously clingy. Clingier than usual.

It made sense. They'd been fighting on and off for weeks. Of course they'd want to spend every waking moment together now that they were on the same page again. That was probably the only reason that Gladio had joined them in Lestallum that day. He didn't usually come along with Noctis on appointments, but Ignis also had a check-up with their usual doctor in Lestallum, so of course Gladio wanted to be there.

Noctis glanced up and into the mirror on the other side of the room. He'd needed to have his shirt off, so that the doctor could get a look at his ribs. The scars and bruises and whatever else from all the hunting they did stood out like a beacon. He looked like some kind of prize fighter or something. Turning around, he took a glance at his back, at the scar from a year ago. It was still raised and nasty, and the doctor from Meldacio had told him that it would probably always be that way. She'd said that it would fade eventually, and probably look like a silver stripe across his back, but for now it looked like an angry raised bump of pinched skin.

It was still hard not to stare at it, and this time, it was kind of unfortunate, because Gladio chose that moment to poke his head in and ask a question.

Gladio announced his presence with a call of, "is the doctor back yet, Noct? Wanted to ask him something about-" before stopping abruptly and stepping all the way into the room. "What the hell happened to your back?!"

Noctis blinked. "O-oh. Um... it's just an old injury," he shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, really. Doesn't even hurt, so..." He picked his shirt up to pull it over his head, and jumped when Gladio strode quickly across the space between them.

"This looks like it was deep, Noct," Gladio pointed out in a worried tone. Not his usual gruff one that he took when he got mad, but one of surprise and worry. "When'd this happen? Was it when we were split up or something?" He crouched down and looked the long scar over. He didn't touch it, but he seemed to be examining it very closely.

Worry about Gladio's reaction wouldn't allow Noctis to answer.

Gladio grunted a soft note. "Scars like this don't usually form unless the wound was deep. Like, least half an inch deep," he murmured. "How close was it to your spine?"

Noctis bit his lip and turned around, as if it could erase what Gladio had already seen. "It... the doctor back in Meldacio said it was pretty close. I needed a few weeks of bed rest, but I took it, mostly, and I'm healed, so..." He trailed off, draping his shirt over his neck.

Silence draped over the room like a giant, heavy blanket, and Noctis watched as Gladio stood up straight. Humming a soft note, Gladio met Noctis' eye. "You look pretty nervous. Like there's something you're not telling me," he told Noctis. "When'd it happen?" His eyes went from appraising to suspicious in a heartbeat, like he already knew what Noctis was trying to hide.

How, though? Noctis had kept it as secret as possible. Between him and the Meldacio doctor. The only reason he'd kept quiet was because he didn't want to reopen all of those old wounds. And this was an even worse time to do that. When they were finally healed, and Noctis and Gladio were finally on the right track to being like they always used to be. That was how things always went for Noctis, though. Happy happened, and then something came back to bite him in the ass and ruin everything. It wasn't like he could just lie to Gladio. Now that they were close again, Gladio would know, and he wouldn't just overlook things like that like he did when they weren't talking.

Really, his only option was to tell the truth, and to deal with Gladio getting pissed; deal with possibly undoing all of the repair that they'd been through over the past couple of months.

Pulling in a deep breath, Noctis glanced down at the floor. "It was a ronin," he explained as he pulled his shirt back down all the way. "A year ago."

Gladio was completely quiet. The silence actually spurred Noctis to look up again, to meet Gladio's eye. He didn't really look mad, but at the same time, he looked like he was still piecing it together in his head. Noctis could identify the moment when it all clicked into place. His eyes went as wide as saucers, and he snapped his eyes up from the floor to meet Noctis' eye. "A ronin, a year ago. So, it happened when... when our dads died?!" Despite the sharp sound of his words, his facial expression didn't match.

It wasn't angry. It looked surprised, sure, but stronger than the surprise was the concern; the worry. He stepped forward and put a hand on Noctis' shoulder. "Was that when it happened?" he asked, his tone level this time.

Noctis just nodded. "Y-yeah. It..." He paused, glancing down at the tile floor. "The ronin that got them got me first. S-so..." So, nothing. He wasn't going to tell Gladio upfront that he was still blaming himself, if only because Gladio wasn't there. Gladio didn't know how desperately they'd tried to protect him, or how they'd died to do it.

"Damn it, Noct." Gladio combed his fingers through his hair. The curse wasn't accompanied by as much anger as Noctis expected it would be. "Who else knows? Igs? Wesk and Cor?"

With a sigh, Noctis shook his head no. "N-no. No, I didn't tell anyone. Just Prompto, really. With everything that happened to our dads, I... I didn't want to make a big deal about it. You know? You guys shouldn't have been worried about me. I didn't want to take attention from, y'know, remembering our dads." He finally glanced up at Gladio, expecting an angry scowl.

Instead, though, Gladio's expression was hard to read. It was angry, but also sad. There was a slight twitch of his brow that Noctis had seen a couple of times, usually when he felt guilty about something, and it made Noctis feel even worse. "I mean, it's not a big deal, or anything..." Noctis pointed out, shrugging his head to the side and scratching a hand through his hair.

"It's a huge deal, Noct," Gladio spoke calmly, though his face was still sad, still guilty. "'Cause all I can think about is how much shit I gave you after it happened. Wondering why you were still moping around when I was expected to hunt like normal, and wondering why you were holing yourself up in your room. If I'd known? Things might not have been so bad between us for this past year..."

Now _Noctis_ felt a flash of guilt creeping up, but he tamped it back before it had a chance to take root. "Maybe."

Gladio huffed a breath, before reaching out and putting his hands on Noctis' shoulders. "No maybe about it, Noct. It would've. Because then I would've _known_ how close we came to losing you. Hell, man. I was giving you so much shit while you were recovering from _that_ , and I had no clue. Why weren't you more pissed at me?" he asked.

With a shrug of his own, Noctis raked his teeth over his lip. "I didn't really have it in me, honestly. All I could bring myself to do was mope." He laughed a humorless laugh at his own expense.

"It wasn't moping, though, Noct. It was healing. Like, more healing than I thought. I thought just your head was fucked up. I thought you _were_ moping. That's a big part of why I was so pissed off. I mean, that and all the other shit that we already talked about back at the compound a month ago." With a sigh, Gladio yanked Noctis forward into a hug. It was a little too tight for his still-tender ribs, but he didn't say anything, mostly because he was still pretty glad to be back on terms like this with Gladio. Hugs weren't an every day occurrence like they were between Gladio and Ignis, which was fine, but when they happened, it was a nice reminder that things were okay now.

Even more of a reminder was the fact that Gladio wasn't flipping out at him right now, for having kept this a secret for as long as he had. That only lasted until Gladio spoke up again, though. "I'm not sure if I should tell Igs about this," he confessed.

Noctis' eyes sprang open wide, and he clamped his teeth down hard on his lip. He knew that Gladio and Ignis didn't really have any secrets, and probably even _less_ now that they were both completely back on the same page again. Because of that, he couldn't really bring himself to tell Gladio _not_ to tell Ignis about it. It wasn't really fair, and even if he had asked Gladio to do it, he was pretty sure that it was asking too much. On the other hand, though, Ignis had just gotten back to himself. He was functioning normally, doing a _normal_ amount of research and allowing Loqi to help him look through all of Verstael's journals, too. Bringing this up to him would only make Ignis worry more about something that had happened a year ago. More than a year ago, even, and the injury had long since healed over. Was it really worth that?

"I don't know," Noctis admitted. "I mean, part of me wants to ask you to keep it between us, but-"

Gladio huffed a humorless laugh. "But if Igs finds out later that I knew and didn't say anything, he'd be pissed at me, probably as much as he'd be pissed at you. I think I've had enough fighting with him for a damn lifetime over the past few months," he admitted, his expression relieved. Probably because it was over now.

Noctis frowned. It made sense. Of course it did. "If you've gotta tell him, I'm not gonna, y'know, stop you or anything. Especially not after you just got done fighting," he murmured.

A few more seconds of silence, and Gladio finally looked at Noctis again. "Maybe it'll be better if I tell him for you, anyway. You know, soften the blow and everything. Chances are he already knows to some degree, anyway," he added with a soft chuckle. "Maybe not how bad it was, but he probably knows that you were hurt. He always knows." There was still guilt and sadness in his expression, but a gentle fondness now, like there always was when he talked about Ignis. "When I tell him, I'll ask him to keep it between us, but I still think you should let Wesk and Cor know."

That thought made Noctis more nervous than anything. One of the team's rules was that any serious injury was supposed to be reported to Weskham and Cor whenever they got seriously injured. Noctis had told Cor about the injury, but not how serious it was. If Cor found out now; if the pair of them found out that he'd almost died, Noctis was pretty sure that they'd be mad.

As he was turning that over in his mind, though, Gladio shrugged a shoulder. "They probably already know, too. I imagine that probably took a fuck ton of bandages back in the day. Willing to bet that Cor noticed the stock of bandages going down quick or something, and that Wesk noticed the bloody bandages in your trash when he emptied it," he pointed out.

All things that Noctis hadn't considered before. He glanced down at the floor. "Cor didn't know. He wouldn't have let me go into the field as quickly as he did if he knew," he explained, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"Crowe told me about all the hunts you tried to take on by yourself," Gladio told him, his tone stern as he gave Noctis an annoyed look from beneath his brows. "I'd probably be pissed and say that it was reckless as hell, if I didn't get it. Took Iggy and Iris both to stop me from doin' the same thing once we got to Altissia."

With a sigh, Noctis glanced at the door to the hospital room. "How pissed do you think Cor and Wesk are gonna be?" he asked.

Gladio shrugged. "Wesk doesn't get pissed, really. He just gives you that look. You know the one," he mused, his expression a soft grin as he did his best to mimic the expression that he was talking about. Concern, mixed with a stern glare, and his lips a disappointed line. Normally, on Weskham, it was enough to make Noctis want to confess everything. As far as Gladio went, though, it just looked hilarious. He was used to Gladio yelling at him. Which made this whole situation that much weirder.

"An attempt was made," Noctis remarked sarcastically, a tiny grin forming on his face. "But yeah, I know the one."

Smirking, Gladio rolled his eyes at Noctis. "Remind me why I ever agreed to be your friend again," he teased, leaning against the counter.

It was then that Noctis found himself wondering exactly where the doctor was. Honestly, he probably shouldn't have been gone this long, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like he was just sitting here, alone and lost in his own thoughts while he waited. Still, when the doorknob turned, Noctis turned his head to look at it, expecting to see the doctor on the other side when it opened. Much to his surprise, though maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising, Ignis stood on the other side. His knee was wrapped in a brace, and he had a pair of crutches in his arms. Both of his wrists were finally anchored properly for healing, too, which was good. Maybe now he could finally recover in a normal period of time.

"Hey, Specs. You run into the doctor out there?" Noctis asked, trying to hide the layer of guilt in his voice as he did. Gladio knew now, which meant that he would almost definitely want to tell Ignis now. Which _probably_ meant that Noctis had to be here for it, since he was still waiting for the doctor.

Ignis nodded. "I did. A new emergency patient just came in, so he may be a few moments. I came in with the pair of you to make things easier. Cor and Weskham took off to check in with the guild here, and see about some jobs for us once we get back to the compound." His brows knit together as he glanced from Noctis to Gladio, his expression suspicious, more or less showing that he was back in form. "Why do the two of you look as though you're harboring some deep, dark secret?"

Gladio snorted. "Normally, I'd pretend to be exasperated by that razor sharp wit of yours, but honestly, I'm more relieved than anything else," he joked.

A slightly panicked expression rose on Noctis' face as he turned to look at Gladio. While a part of him wanted to get this out of the way sooner rather than later, the rest of him really, _really_ didn't want to be here for it. Ignis would probably be more hurt than he was angry at the secret, but that was somehow worse.

The gentle clap that Gladio gave to his still-tender shoulder caught his attention, and he watched as Gladio stepped forward, pressing a kiss to Ignis' forehead. "As much as I wanna tell you you're wrong, you're not. Though it was more Noct keeping the secret than me." He glanced over his shoulder at Noctis.

Okay, so how exactly was this supposed to ease Ignis into the information? He turned his eyes down to look at the floor, then scratched a hand through his hair. It wasn't like it was a huge deal. He was healed, he'd dealt with it. So, what did he have to feel guilty about? He forced his eyes up from the floor and tried to look at Ignis, but couldn't quite meet his eye. Gladio went into the story, telling him everything that Noctis had just told him. How he'd almost died on the night that their dads had died and kept it from the rest of the team. Once again, it wasn't really easing the information any, but Noctis thought that maybe he deserved that much.

When he finally glanced at Ignis' face, he saw the expression change from a furrowed brow to disbelief, from disbelief to acknowledgment, from acknowledgment to disappointment. He turned to look at Noctis, walking on his crutches until he was at Noctis' side. "May I see the scar, Noct?" he spoke, his tone level and carefully hiding any strong show of emotion.

That was almost scarier than anger. Noctis swallowed thickly and nodded his head, turning around and lifting the back of his shirt until it was bunched in his hand, at his shoulder. He could almost feel Ignis' eyes as they cast the length of the scar, and he couldn't help but swallow a nervous lump as it formed in his throat. Ignis wasn't saying anything, but usually, when he appraised things like this, he _didn't_ say anything, so that wasn't as disconcerting as the fact that Gladio hadn't said anything yet. What happened to smoothing things over? Honestly, it was probably harder, since Noctis was in the room with him, but it made Noctis nervous.

Ignis finally breathed a gentle and slow note through his nose. "Okay," he finally spoke, telling Noctis to release his shirt.

When Noctis let go, he turned around and looked at Ignis, examining his face and clamping down hard on his lip for a second. Maybe Gladio was getting ready to speak up, but Noctis' mind didn't want to give him the chance. "I know it was probably really lousy of me to keep it a secret, and you're probably really mad at me," he started, "but I was just... everything was happening so fast then, Specs. Between my dad and you guys' dad, and the fact that the teams were suddenly splitting up, and how I wasn't sure about anything... I didn't want to make it worse. You know?" He was rambling, telling Ignis everything that he'd told Gladio, but all in one breath.

"I didn't want everyone worrying about me, too, when we all should've been worrying about picking our lives back up after everything else and... and I know it was reckless and probably stupid of me to deal with it by myself, but I wasn't trying to be reckless or selfish or anything. You know? I just wanted everyone to deal with their own stuff. Not mine..."

For a few more seconds, Ignis was quiet. He hummed a gentle note, then nodded his head once. "Noctis, I would normally be reasonably furious with you. I think, on some level, I am," he explained, though his tone didn't sound nearly as mad as Noctis expected it to. "However, given recent events, I don't think I am in any position to judge anyone for recklessness. Do you?" Now, the expression on his face was different. Not a smile, but not a scowl, either.

Noctis let out the breath he'd been holding in while he waited for the lecture. His eyes were wide, and he scratched his hand through his hair. "You're not mad?"

A gentle note of laughter was Ignis' initial response, but after a couple of beats, he shrugged his shoulders. "A little. Mostly at myself, though, because I was so certain that there was something that you were hiding from us, but I passed it off as your grief making you act erratically. I know now that I should have gone with my instinct." His expression went a little bit cross again, before he met Noctis' eye. "However, I am a _little_ angry. You tried to hunt while you were healing, didn't you? Crowe mentioned that you took on hunts alone for awhile."

Noctis nodded once, then shrugged a shoulder. "I was... I was mad. You know? At daemons, and... and at myself and everything." He caught Gladio's eye, and watched as he turned to look at the floor in guilt.

"I understand, to a degree," Ignis admitted. "I'm upset that it got to that point, and that I didn't know about it, but I understand."

Gladio stepped forward. "Can't expect you to catch everything, Igs," he pointed out gently, placing his hand on Ignis' shoulder. "Especially since he wouldn't come out of his room, and when he finally did... we all know what happened." Guilt flashed across his expression, and he turned to look at Noctis apologetically.

With a shrug, Noctis smiled weakly. "S-so, you're not mad at me? You're not-"

Ignis handed his crutches to Gladio, and limped forward a couple of steps to pull Noctis into a gentle, loose, but no less welcome, hug. "I am. Of course I am. As angry as I am, though, I understand, and would rather just be glad that everyone is here and in one piece. And that perhaps, with Ravus and Loqi's help, we can put an end to Hour Twenty-Five once and for all."

For all the time that Noctis had known Ignis, he hadn't really known him to be an optimist. He wasn't a pessimist, no, but he wasn't a optimist, either. More of a realist, When he pulled back from the hug and smiled at Noctis, he shrugged his head to the side. "And honestly, I'm just relieved that all of us have a relatively clean bill of health. That things are starting to look up." He paused, turning to glance at Gladio, and accepting his crutches back.

The pair of them exchanged a moment of silent communication. That was something Noctis had always envied about them, honestly. They could look at each other and smile, blink, nod, anything like that, and immediately they'd know what the other was thinking. Ignis smiled a more honest smile than Noctis thought he'd be able to give, nodded a gentle nod, and then turned to look back at Noctis.

"In the sake of today's candidness, and in the hope of ensuring that you realize that things _are_ truly looking up, Gladio and I have decided to let you in on a secret." Ignis paused, then glanced at Gladio again.

Gladio nodded again, but he still didn't say anything. Instead, he slid his hand into the back pocket of Ignis' corduroys, and let Ignis keep talking.

Ignis laughed a bashful note. "You've been our friend for our whole lives. We wanted you to be the first to know," he explained, reaching up and grabbing hold of a black leather necklace that hung around his neck.

From beneath his shirt, Ignis pulled a small, black ring that twisted around like it was braided ivy. The design was simple, but Ignis looked at it like it was absolutely everything to him, and even _Noctis_ immediately figured out what that meant. He watched as Gladio stepped up behind Ignis and unhooked the necklace from his neck, then blinked when Ignis offered the ring out to Noctis to look at.

"Wait. Specs. You and Gladio are married?" Noctis asked as he took the ring from Ignis' hand and looked it over.

Gladio laughed. "No. I mean, not yet, anyway. It's funny, though, because we were literally both thinking it. Igs asked me when he woke up from his aeon coma, but he didn't have a ring yet."

Biting his lip, Ignis chuckled fondly. "Not exactly my smartest moment, honestly. And absolutely not how I wanted it to happen. When I woke up, though, I looked at him and I just... couldn't keep the question in. Turned out that he had a ring and was planning on asking me, anyway, so I... agreed. Of course," he paused, laughing bashfully.

Noctis turned and looked down at the ring. The simple ivy pattern was pretty perfect for Ignis, and it made total and complete sense for the pair of them to get married. They'd been together for a while. Years, now. Ignis, too, had been in love with Gladio for even longer than they'd been together. For years, back when Gladio was still dating Ravus. Ignis asking before Gladio got the chance, and that Gladio already had the ring ready, was more or less proof that the pair of them were back on the same page like they'd always been. He turned the ring over in his hands a couple of times, then glanced over to Gladio, who was smirking a pretty proud smirk as he glanced down at the ring in Noctis' hand.

With a soft laugh, Noctis offered the ring back out to Ignis. "Can't say I'm surprised. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised if you guys like, went behind our backs and got hitched or something."

Gladio chuckled. "Iris would never forgive us if we did that. It'll probably already be tough to get her to forgive us for tellin' you first," he pointed out in a half-joke.

He was probably right, though. Iris had been pestering them about getting married for ages now. Besides that, Iris had been acting kind of weird lately. Around most of the group, she was fine. When it came to Gladio, though, there had been a weird divide, a weird rift between the two of them. She'd been going out of her way not to be alone with Gladio, which was a little bit surprising and a lot worrisome. Iris was never short or cross with Gladio, at least not that Noctis had seen. That worry was kind of hidden behind Gladio's comment, too. Noctis could tell.

"So, this is just between us for now, then?" Noctis asked.

Ignis smirked. "And Prompto, when you inevitably tell him. Since I'm certain that you will."

A gentle heat rose to Noctis' cheeks, and he shrugged a shoulder. "That was gonna be my next question," he pointed out, somewhat bashfully.

Gladio shrugged. "You probably wouldn't've been able to keep it from him if we asked you to, so this makes it easier. Just, y'know. The others. We aren't gonna do anything about it before we figure out more of this Besithia and Burgundy Hair Guy crap, anyway, so... we'll eventually make an announcement, but not before then." He clasped the necklace back around Ignis' neck, then watched as Ignis tucked the ring back under his shirt.

Nodding, Ignis added, "it does feel somewhat nice to get it off my chest, though. Even if Noctis is the only one to know," with a warm smile.

Before Noctis had the chance to come up with anything to say in reply, the door to the room creaked open, and the doctor appeared with Weskham and Cor, as well as a handful of files on Noctis. Words died between the three of them, though they shared one more quiet glance, before things went back to business as usual. If Weskham and Cor noticed, they didn't say anything. Later, Noctis would do as he promised and tell the two coordinators about the severity his old injury. For now, though, he just wanted to finish the doctor's appointment and get home, to tell Prompto the good news and then bring everyone into Crystal Space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's like two truths and a lie, but without the lie!
> 
> [Echoes in the Dark](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11412138/chapters/27622467) updated, too! With a bit of Gladnis conflict from back before the Disc of Cauthess!


	15. Sour

_I've got some good news, I'll tell you later._ That was what Noctis had told Prompto before Weskham and Cor had gone to gather the whole team together.

Noctis and the others had rolled back into Hammerhead while Loqi and Prompto were sitting at Takka's, and Loqi was digging into his third or fourth slice of pizza. Prompto had watched him go from trying only vegetables as toppings, to trying garula burger, and he'd been incredibly suspicious of pepperoni, until Prompto had sworn to him that it wasn't some kind of fake meat. That it was several types of meat mixed together, and that he would enjoy it. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to make Loqi change his mind, but he had, and in the end, Loqi had loved it. He was more or less over the moon for it. It made Prompto feel good, helping Loqi break down a boundary that Besithia had created.

He felt even better, seeing Noctis' face and how happy he looked. He'd told Prompto that he finally shared the story about the scar on his back with Ignis and Gladio, and that they'd taken it a lot better than he'd ever expected. Then, he said that he had some kind of secret good news that he could only tell Prompto. That _had_ to be kept secret from the rest of the team. Prompto wasn't sure how Noctis had decided that he deserved to know, but he wasn't going to complain. Being on the inside of the family's secrets was way more than Prompto had ever really expected.

For now, though, he had to be left in anticipation, because, for the moment, the group of them sat together in Cid's garage. Weskham and Cor were talking to Cid for a few minutes, while the rest of the group sat around, talking about what they'd done that day. Loqi seemed really happy while he talked to Ravus. The pair of them smiled at each other, falling into easy happiness and comfort. While Prompto didn't know where Ravus _went_ that day, he _did_ know that he'd spent most of the way with Luna, so it made perfect sense for him to be happy. They were finally getting the time together that they'd been missing for the past however many years, which was really nice. Luna had missed her brother, and Ravus had pretty obviously missed her.

Prompto couldn't help but smile at the fact that _he_ had someone that he could call brother, too.

Loqi glanced over at him, smirked, then turned back to Ravus and went back to their conversation. Noctis caught sight of it, then turned to Prompto with an eyebrow arched. "What's that all about?" he asked, an eyebrow arched curiously as he tilted back in the small chair he was sitting in.

How did he even start the explanation, though? He could just tell Noctis straight out, he guessed. Yeah, the pair of them had kind of a rocky start and everything, but they'd both promised Prompto that they'd try to be nicer to each other, so it wasn't like he expected them to start fighting in the middle of Cid's garage or anything. Still, it was a little bit nerve-wracking, because he knew that Noctis still didn't trust Loqi, and that Loqi didn't really trust Noctis, either. At the very least, though, Noctis cared enough about Prompto to be happy for him. To know that this really was what he wanted. He hoped.

"We talked today," Prompto started simply, smoothing a hand through his hair. "Both of us ended up going to our dad's old apartment, you know? I just kind of... wanted to see if I could find any good memories there." He shrugged his shoulder. "Loqi went to see if he could remember anything about the burgundy-haired stranger. But we gave up on that, I think, and just ended up talking instead."

Noctis arched an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, before turning to glance at Loqi. "Oh. Was... was everything alright?" he asked. Prompto could tell that he was trying not to sound suspicious, but he was falling just short. The attempt meant enough on its own, though.

So, Prompto smiled and shrugged. "He apologized to me."

Noctis blinked. "Wait. Really? He apologized to you..." It made sense that he didn't believe it right away, because Prompto had honestly lost count of the times he'd talked to Noctis about how he was pretty sure that Loqi would never apologize to him. But he had. With a surprised smile, Noctis glanced over at Loqi and Ravus. "Well... good."

Prompto nodded. "I still didn't think he would. Like, I was so sure that he'd just tell me to get the hell out of the apartment and that I had no right to be there or whatever, but no. We talked, and he explained that Besithia had been pitting us against each other since we were kids. He was the reason that Loqi hated me, and I _wasn't_ imagining the times when I thought that maybe we were friends. He even said that he, y'know, wants to try and be brothers. That he thinks we can do it. We spent the past couple of hours talking at Takka's, and having pizza together..." he explained, smiling nervously.

The familiar warmth of Noctis' hand on his, simultaneously surprised him and didn't. It was gentle and it closed loosely around the top of his hand, and when Prompto allowed himself to look back up and meet Noctis' eyes, he could see a warm and gentle smile on his face. "I know Loqi and I have kinda... complicated feelings toward each other, but I really am happy for you. If he really means it... if he really does feel sorry, and if he really wants to try and be brothers? You deserve it," he nodded.

This was going... way, way better than Prompto ever imagined that it would. He honestly thought that Noctis would be way more hesitant to just let things happen, given all of the fights that he and Loqi had gotten into in the past, but he wasn't. A swell of relief rose up, and Prompto couldn't stop himself from giving Noctis an eager, clinging hug. The slight, tiny, twinge of pain in his ribs was easy to ignore, especially with how happy he felt right then. Noctis was incredible, as usual, and now he had a brother, too. He had a family in the group, and a real brother. Real, blood family. No matter how they'd each been created.

"I'm glad you're so happy," Noctis murmured against his shoulder.

Prompto smiled against Noctis' shoulder, too. "I am," he answered. "I really am. I don't know if I've ever been this happy before."

When they pulled back from the hug, Prompto almost kissed him again, right in the middle of the room with everyone watching. Eyes be damned. He was so happy, and Noctis was a huge part of what _made_ him that happy, and he really, really just wanted to show Noctis exactly how grateful he was. Before he got the chance, though, the garage door opened and dragged him from his thoughts just in time.

Weskham was looking at them in surprise, but chuckled fondly as he cast his eyes around the rest of the room. Prompto looked over his shoulder at everyone else, and immediately, a wave of heat rose to his cheeks. Of _course_ everyone was staring at them. Of _course_ he couldn't just make a fool out of himself like that and have it go unnoticed. He jumped back and sat down in his own chair, wishing that he had a hat or a hood or something to cover his face with. Since he didn't, he just stared down at the floor and murmured, "sorry," under his breath.

"It's quite alright," Weskham replied with a gentle and fond smile. "We should have known better than to leave you to your devices for any extent of time, hm?" His tone was teasing, and it was doing nothing to help Prompto's embarrassment.

Cor smirked as he stepped forward, placing a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "We just went to invite Cid along with us when Noct takes us into Crystal Space. He says he doesn't want to, though. Says he made his peace a long time ago, and doesn't wanna screw things up by forcing himself to see Regis' face again," he explained.

With a frown and a nod, Cindy glanced down to the floor. "I tried to tell him that it'd be good for him, but he wouldn't listen."

Tilting his head to the side, Cor frowned. "We'll talk to him about it later on, Cindy. Got a hunch that he doesn't wanna do it with all of you there. So, maybe we can just grab you and Noct one time and go together. He gave us a message to send, so I'm gonna call that progress for now," he explained.

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, he was tryin' to distance himself from all of this. Said it was bad enough that I was into it." She smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulder.

A small part of Prompto felt guilty, especially knowing that Cindy was only involved in this because _he_ was involved in it. He knew that she'd be upset if she knew that he felt guilty, though. Instead, he just turned to look at Noctis, who was standing up and reaching into his pants pocket. Prompto recognized the small, glowing crystal that he took out. When Noctis told him about all of the times that he'd been to Crystal Space and all the things that Gentiana had told him, he took the crystal out and held it in his hands, staring at it like he felt some kind of connection. Knowing what they knew now, that his dad was his new guide, it made total sense.

Prompto watched as Noctis looked around the room. "Okay, so... this is gonna sound weird."

With a soft and fond laugh, Luna stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "When he brought me into Crystal Space, he held the crystal to his chest while he was holding onto my shoulder. So, I suspect what he's trying to say is that he needs all of us to touch him." She turned her eyes to look at Noctis.

Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. It's gonna be a little bit crowded for a second," he murmured with an embarrassed smile.

"Guess this is probably a bad time to call for a group hug?" Nyx joked. "Or the best time. I'll leave that up to you guys."

As everyone stood up, Noctis quickly reached for Prompto's hand. He accepted Noctis' hand with a little smirk, and then watched as the rest of the group approached. It was probably a little bit weird. The group was huggy and tactile, sure, but Ravus and Loqi were probably not. Not nearly as much, anyway. Still, Prompto figured that Loqi's willingness to go along with it had more to do with some kind of scientific curiosity than anything else. Tentatively, he touched Noctis' other shoulder. Everyone had their hands on his shoulders or forearms, except for Prompto, who clutched his hand tightly. Noctis looked a little bit uncomfortable, but he still glanced down at the crystal and pulled it up to his chest.

Before Prompto had even realized what happened, the garage white-shifted, and everything around him morphed into... well, he wasn't really sure at first. It was blue. _Really_ blue. It looked like he was standing on air in a fully blue expanse of nothing, and Prompto had to blink as he looked down from the ground. Everyone was stepping away from Noctis, other than Prompto, who simply held his hand a little bit tighter as he looked around.

Tiny little balls of sparkling _something_ floated through the air like fireflies or fairies or something, and they left little trails of sparkling dust behind them. The dust floated down into the nothingness below Prompto's feet, and not for the first time, he found himself wondering exactly how he was standing up here. All of the lingering pains from his injuries were completely gone now, and Prompto simply turned to look over at Noctis, who was already looking around the place with familiarity. It made sense. He'd been here enough for it to feel like second nature to him.

Loqi looked completely blown away by everything, too, as he reached down to the ground and tried to touch it. His hand went down below where their feet were all standing, though, which only served to raise a dozen more questions in Prompto's mind. How were they standing? What kind of place was this? Before he could even register anything enough to ask, though, an unfamiliar voice called out through the open space.

"I honestly didn't expect for you to bring everyone along, Noctis," the voice called.

A second voice replied seconds later with a gentle, "you should have, Regis. You would have done much the same."

Immediately, at the sound of the second voice, Gladio whipped around from where he stood a couple of feet from Prompto's left. "Wait..." he murmured, looking completely and totally floored when the carrier of the voice entered his vision.

Prompto followed his gaze, to see a man who had a very similar carriage to Gladio and Iris. Their dad, probably. The other looked just enough like Noctis, for Prompto to assume _him_ to be _Noctis'_ father. Both men regarded the group with kind eyes, and Gladio's dad stopped when his eyes fell upon his two children.

"You can't be too surprised, Gladiolus. Noctis did tell you that I was here, correct?" the man asked his son.

Iris, who looked like she was barely holding back a dam of tears, bounded forward across the empty space to throw her arms around her father's neck. Both feet left the not-ground, and she hugged him tightly when he lifted her off the ground. "Daddy!" she whimpered. "G-Gladdy said it wasn't real! He said that Noct was imagining things, but I... I didn't know! I wanted to believe him, and... and..."

It looked like Gladio was still hesitant, but Ignis was pulling him forward slowly, toward his dad—toward Clarus—with an urging smile. "Right or wrong, Gladio, this is a chance that I am certain you have wanted for months. I'm sure everyone here understands your skepticism," he promised.

Of all the things that Prompto expected to see, a speechless Gladio staring at his dad like he was looking at a ghost wasn't one of them. It probably should have been, especially considering the fact that, as far as any of them knew, Clarus and Regis were dead. Yet, somehow, they were standing right across the way, in the expanse of blue. As he watched Clarus eagerly pull Ignis and Gladio into the hug, squeezing the three of them easily in his arms, he smiled a little bit. They deserved this; deserved the chance to see Clarus again. Weskham and Cor each gave Regis a handshake-hug, and the three of them started into an emotional conversation in hushed tones that Prompto couldn't quite hear.

Noctis turned to look at him, smiling a soft but nervous smile. "So, this is Crystal Space," he told Prompto.

With a smile, Prompto nodded his head. "It's pretty. Like, really pretty," he answered, squeezing Noctis' hand as he looked over at the groups of people.

Luna had crossed the space to wrap her arms around Regis' shoulders now, and he smiled as he gave both her and Nyx a gentle hug. It was the most vulnerable that Prompto ever remembered seeing Nyx _or_ Crowe, for that matter, who was still standing between the two men and waiting her turn to get some kind of hug. In the end, it was Clarus who pulled her into the embrace with his children first, and murmured something that Prompto couldn't quite hear into her ear. Prompto smiled as he turned to look back at Noctis, who was gently tugging on Prompto's arm, pulling him toward Regis.

Aranea, Cindy, Loqi, and Ravus stayed several steps back. Ravus looked slightly uncomfortable, and Prompto remembered that Noctis had told him that there were some complicated, hard feelings between Ravus and the team before he'd left. Prompto stopped Noctis with a gentle tug back on his arm, and shrugged his head over to the others.

It seemed like Noctis caught on to what he was trying to say, and turned his attention toward them. "Don't you want to meet my dad?" he asked Aranea, Cindy, and Loqi. "And Ravus, don't you wanna come say hi? I know dad doesn't have any hard feelings toward you."

Regis, who still had his arm around Luna, had walked forward a few steps, and stopped to place a hand on Noctis' shoulder. "He's correct, Ravus," he announced. "While I know that you've been forced into some dark corners in your quest to do what we were unable to do for your sister when we were alive, you've returned to the right side of the fight. Plus, your sister seems to be thriving at the moment, so I don't see any reason that we should be on the outs anymore, do you?" The expression on the man's face was tentative, like he was unsure what Ravus' reaction to the situation would be.

That made sense, honestly. Prompto had figured out very little about Ravus and why he did what he did and said what he said. They still hadn't really discussed anything about that night that Ravus had almost killed Prompto, and while Prompto didn't _expect_ anything, he still kind of hoped that someday he could build enough of his newfound bravery to ask Ravus if he planned to apologize for that night.

Right now, though, that wasn't important. Ravus looked at Regis in mild suspicion for a couple of seconds, before evening his expression out. It wasn't happy or sad, it was just a serious face. He stepped forward, nodding once at Regis. "I suppose you're correct, Mr. Caelum. We're all on the same side," he answered, though to Prompto, it sounded more like a reassurance than a general statement.

With a nod, Regis turned his attention to the three new hesitant faces. "You must be Aranea. And you, Cindy. You look much like your grandfather did when he was younger," he said with a fond smile. "We've heard Noctis telling Gentiana a great deal about both of you. Thank you for helping to round the crew out so nicely."

As Regis introduced himself to Aranea and Cindy, both of whom still looked a little bit uncomfortable with everything—which made sense, because the two of them, Loqi, and Prompto were kind of on the outside of this situation more than anyone else was—Prompto watched as Luna and Regis worked together to dispel that discomfort. By the end of the conversation, even Aranea was reciprocating the gentle hug that Regis gave. Noctis turned to Prompto and chuckled softly.

"My dad and Luna are a pretty fearsome team when it comes to stuff like this," Noctis joked.

Laughing a gentle note, Prompto shrugged his shoulders. "Luna's good at making people feel comfortable." He thought back to when he was new to the group, how Luna had been one of the first to take him under her wing and help him figure out how to open up to Noctis. Even as early as their first trip from Hammerhead to the compound, she'd been so adamant that Regis would have liked him.

Prompto examined the man as he turned to Loqi. This introduction made Prompto a little bit nervous. Nothing that he'd heard about Loqi, up until now, had probably been positive. He knew that Noctis and Loqi hadn't exactly had the most positive relationship up until this point. The two fights, and Noctis' thoughts on Loqi's relationship with Prompto up until this point, had to mean that Noctis' dad wouldn't have anything to say.

Much to Prompto's surprise, though, it was only tense for a couple of moments. Regis appraised Loqi for a couple of seconds, and Loqi appraised him too, obviously ready with his usual snarky comment if things didn't go favorably. When Regis stopped in front of him again, he offered a hand for Loqi to shake. Prompto's eyes were wide, and he blinked a couple of times as he watched the man's expression. It was still tense, still not _exactly_ trusting or anything, but it was way better than Prompto had ever imagined it would be. His eyes turned to Loqi to wait for his response.

Loqi, too, seemed surprised. He stared at Regis' hand for a couple of seconds, then looked up at his face.

"I'm assuming that, because Ravus has brought you here along with him, you're going to be assisting them now, yes?" Regis asked simply, his voice even and his eyes still appraising Loqi as he waited for some kind of answer. "And that you will no longer be antagonizing my son or your brother?"

Initially, Loqi looked like he had some kind of sarcastic comment prepared, but when he saw the level and serious look on Regis' face, instead, all he did was nod. "Yes," he answered, a simple one-word answer that seemed more loaded than the simplicity was.

Regis' face broke into a smile that was still a little tight-lipped, like he didn't _exactly_ trust Loqi, but was willing to give him a chance all the same. "Good. They've enough working against them without your assistance," he told Loqi plainly, thrusting his hand forward again and not-so-subtly telling Loqi that he wanted to shake hands.

Finally, Loqi lifted his hand and clasped Regis' with a tense and nervous expression still plain on his face. "I sincerely hope that you and Prompto don't end up on the outs. I can't imagine that anyone in this group would be horribly patient with you if you upset him." It was spoken as a kind warning, but Prompto could hear the slight threat underneath the words. While Prompto _wanted_ to say that it wasn't necessary, this trust between the two of them was still new, and definitely not all-encompassing yet. He still wasn't sure if things would _ever_ be good in the way Prompto wanted them to, but he was willing to take them as they were for now.

When Regis finally turned away from Loqi, Loqi leaned into Ravus and looked at Prompto, plainly expressing his discomfort with the situation. Prompto only had a couple of seconds to focus on that, though, because Regis' attention was on him now. He released Luna, who joined Loqi at Ravus' side and beckoned Nyx to join them, and then walked toward Prompto with an expression on his face that Prompto wasn't sure how to read.

As he approached them, his gaze turned to Noctis as he pointed at Prompto. "This is Prompto, yes?" he asked calmly.

The very second that Noctis nodded, Regis reached out to Prompto, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. He felt Noctis' grip on his hand loosen, and just as soon as Noctis' hand fell, Regis pulled him forward into a hug that would have crushed his bones were they in the real world. As it stood, it just filled him with a pleasant warmth. It was similar to the hugs that he got from Noctis, but different at the same time. While it felt nice, though, Prompto still wasn't sure about it, so he just blinked against Regis' shoulder.

"S-sir?" Prompto asked.

Regis hummed a gentle chuckle and murmured, "thank you for saving Noctis from himself, Prompto," against Prompto's hair.

Surprise wasn't a strong enough word for what Prompto was feeling right then. Saving Noctis from himself. No matter how many times people told him that he'd helped Noctis, that he'd brought Noctis back from some sort of brink, Prompto had a hard time believing that he'd had anything to do with it. Yes, he was completely and totally aware that Noctis had been through some darkness before they met. All Prompto had done, though, was act mystified at how wonderful he was, despite all the pain and heartache he'd been through. Nothing special. Still, praise from Noctis' father was hard to ignore.

So, Prompto simply said, "he did the same for me. S-sir."

With a gentle laugh, Regis shook his head and pulled back from the hug, looking Prompto in the eye. "Don't call me sir, please. I'm thoroughly tempted to ask you to call me dad, but I'm reasonably certain that Noctis would make some sort of pathetic whining noise at me," he joked.

It was amusing, the fact that Noctis more or less did exactly what Regis said he was going to. "Dad!" he hissed, right alongside the 'pathetic whining noise.' "Please. It's... don't, okay? Just d-don't."

Regis laughed, and Prompto watched as Clarus did the same. "Yes, don't embarrass your son," he murmured, walking forward with Iris and Gladio beneath each of his arms, Ignis holding Gladio's hand, and Crowe holding Iris'. The five of them looked like a family. Like a normal and functional family. Prompto couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the sight. Iris, Gladio, and their significant others looked like a giant set of wings that crested from Clarus' arms, almost.

Smiling fondly, Regis placed a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "My gratitude stands regardless. And if I can't ask you to call me dad, I'll at least ask you to call me Regis, okay? None of this 'sir' business. You saved my son from himself," he repeated, "so that earns you the right to speak to me with familiarity."

Red painted Prompto's cheeks, and he nodded his head. "A-alright, Regis," he murmured bashfully.

Weskham, with a fond smile on his face, stepped forward and glanced from Prompto, to Regis, to everyone else. "As much as I hate to break the pleasant mood in the room, there was more to this meeting than just letting Clarus see his children and introducing the new family to the old," he pointed out.

A soft laugh escaped from Regis' lips, and he nodded. "Indeed. Ever the pragmatist, old friend," he muttered.

"Someone needs to be. If I left things to the three of you, and Cid for that matter-"

Cor interrupted, "who sent a message, by the way. Wanted us to tell you 'you're still an idiot,'" and then smirked wryly at Regis.

Sighing, Weskham nodded. "Indeed he did. If I left things to the four of you, nothing would ever get done and I think we'd have exhausted Eos' whole supply of medical paraphernalia in one evening," he joked, though he didn't really sound like he was joking at the same time.

It was funny how they Weskham and Cor hadn't seen Regis or Clarus in a year, and everyone knew that they were both dead, but no one seemed to really be focused on that fact for now. Prompto was thinking about it, sure, but even he wasn't _completely_ focused on it. It was too nice to see all the reunions. Those were distracting him for the time being, as was the way that everyone seemed to fall back into easy conversation with Regis and Clarus like they hadn't been out of one another's lives—or afterlives—for a whole year. Strange as it was, it really drove the point home in Prompto's mind that these people were a family.

And now, he was a part of it. While the others spoke, his hand found Noctis' again, and Noctis twined their fingers together.

"Back to the matter at hand," Clarus finally spoke up. "The man with the burgundy hair, who seems to be ever-present in your lives, as he was for us years ago..." There was concern in his expression as he glanced around the whole group.

Loqi nodded. "Some of us more than others," he pointed out, his eyes finding Prompto in the crowd.

As Regis turned to glance at Loqi, he asked, "meaning, exactly?" gently. His voice held none of the mistrust that it had held before, but in its place was a fresh crop of concern.

Prompto raked his teeth over his lip. "Loqi and me... we remember him from when we were kids. He visited our dad all the time, and... and he always had this really weird interest in us," he explained. "It used to creep us both out. Loqi told me that once, he... he scared us so bad that Loqi hid in my room with me. We hid under my bed until he left." It was probably embarrassing to admit that, but it was something that he and Loqi had just talked about while they'd had lunch together.

As Loqi nodded, he turned to glance at Regis again. "Between this and all that business with our father and his blood research... we're not sure what they're up to, but we know it's not good." He shrugged one shoulder and then glanced over at Prompto again.

"Blood research?" Regis questioned, as he glanced from Loqi to Cor and Weskham.

Nodding, Ignis was the one who spoke up. "You didn't tell your father about the blood research, did you, Noct?" he asked calmly, but then glanced at Regis with a somber expression on his face. "Indeed. Prompto and Loqi's father, if you choose to call him that, has been conducting blood research on the pair of them for the better part of their lives. Unfortunately, now that we are a part of their lives, that research has since spread to us. Or, more specifically, Noctis."

Regis' eyes shot from Ignis to Noctis then. "What?" he snapped.

A glance at Noctis showed his lips as a thin straight line. "I-it was only one time," he explained. "Nothing like what Prompto or Loqi have been through." His eyes found Loqi's in the crowd, a slight disapproval in his gaze, before he turned back to look at Regis again. "But yeah. Somehow, they found their way onto the compound and-"

Ravus cut him off. "We believe that it was one of their associates that did that," he explained. "He tried to hire me for the job, but I turned him down."

"Is that why you were warnin' us your old man's plans? Why didn't you just say it straight out?" Gladio question, his tone annoyed as he looked at Ravus.

With a bitter laugh, Ravus pointed out, "you probably would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that I had something to do with it. Besides that, the conversation was taking place in the middle of a crowded bar. Caelum was intoxicated, Loqi was moody, and it was _very much_ an unfortunate time for the whole discussion to take place."

Ignis huffed a note of humorless laughter. "As though there is such thing as a fortuitous place for such discussions," he countered, but then turned his gaze toward Regis again.

"Do you have any idea of the names of his associates, Ravus?" Regis asked calmly.

But Ravus shook his head no. "He kept me as far out of the loop as he possibly could. Few details when I was taking on a job for him, and enough about Loqi to make me sure that I had to get him the hell out of there." _That_ was spoken with a fierce protectiveness, which made Prompto glad that Loqi wasn't dealing with the whole situation on his own. No one deserved to be alone.

"Besithia never trusted anyone, to be honest," Loqi explained. "He only ever let me help enough to-"

Clarus cut him off. "What did you say his name was?" he asked, stepping away from Gladio and Iris to approach Loqi and meet his eye.

Wide-eyed, Loqi looked at Clarus in shock. "Besithia. Verstael Besithia..." he answered, unsure.

The next words, however, took Prompto completely off-guard. "This... is far worse than I could have possibly imagined," Regis murmured, as he cast a glance toward Clarus. "You remember too, do you not, Clarus?"

As Clarus heaved a sigh and nodded his head, he turned to look at Weskham and Cor. "There was a project that Regis and I were researching with Sylva, Sophia, and Aulea years ago. Before Gladio and Ignis were even born, I believe. Lunafreya was just a baby. Do you remember?" he asked. "We didn't inform Weskham, Cid, or Cor, because they were off in Ghovoras hunting that group of red giants and naga that were terrorizing the train operators. I digress. I'm getting off topic."

Regis frowned and looked at Prompto and Loqi. "Indeed, I do remember." He hesitated for a couple of seconds, before meeting Prompto's eye. "Are the pair of you Verstael Besithia's birth sons?" His hand found Prompto's shoulder, a gentle motion of encouragement.

Simultaneously, Prompto shook his head, and Noctis answered for him, "kind of. Th-they're less his birth sons and more... clones of him." Noctis' tone was meek, like he was worried that he was overstepping a boundary. He wasn't. Prompto wouldn't have been able to answer on his own, and he was pretty sure that Loqi didn't _want_ to answer.

The expression on Regis' face was hard for Prompto to read. He likened it to the way that Noctis looked when he was holding onto a bit of unpleasant information. He turned to look at Clarus, who looked equally perplexed and equally troubled. Clarus breathed in deeply, out slowly, and then turned his attention to Regis. "It's as we feared, Regis."

"Indeed," Regis answered sadly. "Boys. I'm afraid that we know what you were cloned for."

As Regis and Clarus delved into the tale, the pair of them telling the whole story to the group, Prompto found that his heart was sinking further and further. From what they said, they'd trailed Prompto's dad from Cauthess, all the way to Niflheim, and lost track of him somewhere after he got to the city. His experiments were numerous, and covered many, many things about daemons and Hour Twenty-Five. One particular experiment caught their attention, though. It was a plan that involved cloning a pair of children and raising them. Raising them in squalor and solitude, to build up sadness and resentment toward the rest of the world. That sadness and resentment, Clarus explained, would turn to darkness.

The whole story ended with Regis standing Prompto and Loqi next to one another, and looking at them sadly. "The darker that a person is on the inside," he explained, "the more their blood is something like an energy drink to daemons. We learned that, the two children that he planned to clone were to be used to strengthen daemons. And, possibly, to extend Hour Twenty-Five."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: Updates will probably go down to once a week from here on out, as I will be taking on a third project. ♥ I'll obviously still keep going on this, but I need to slow down a bit or I'll burn myself out. :)


	16. Comfort

Besithia was trying to cultivate darkness. Everything that Prompto had been through in his life had been for the purpose of creating darkness. He'd been neglected by his dad and hated by his brother for the sole purpose of creating and fostering darkness inside of him. Noctis couldn't believe it. What kind of person, what kind of man was so terrible that he would create two sons from his own DNA and just use them for darkness, to make daemons stronger?

And why in the hell did he even want to make daemons stronger to begin with? Noctis knew that the guy was deranged, and that his research obviously had something to do with daemons and Hour Twenty-Five, but strengthening daemons? Fusing daemons with animals and whatever else? What person in their right mind would willingly do that, knowing that they could easily overpower any person, including the person who created them? Wasn't Besithia putting himself in just as much danger as the rest of the world? Frustration bubbled up in Noctis' mind, and the quiet ride back to the compound from Hammerhead was only serving to give him the chance to think about it more, and make him madder.

Why Prompto? Hell, Noctis didn't even wish this kind of thing on _Loqi_ , and their relationship had been anything but stellar up to this point.

Noctis and Prompto had ridden home with Weskham and Cor, who tried on several occasions to get Prompto to open up and talk. He wouldn't. He just sat next to Noctis, staring out the window sadly and watching Leide pass by. Noctis understood. Back when his dad had died, he'd felt exactly the same. He hadn't wanted to talk, hadn't wanted to listen to people spout platitudes at him and tell him how everything was okay, or how it was going to be okay. Prompto was finding out that his whole existence was the machinations of someone's twisted plan. Of course, he wouldn't feel like talking.

The silence continued, too, until they got back to their room. Weskham dropped them off and told them to rest, and not to worry about hunting until the next day, and Prompto simply walked across the cabin quietly, up the stairs, and while Noctis still stood in the doorway, he heard the door to the balcony open and close upstairs. While Prompto hadn't said a word, he hadn't told Noctis that he _didn't_ want to be followed, either.

For a few seconds, he stood there and weighed the options in his mind, before nodding in self-affirmation and walking slowly toward the stairs.

Apprehension flooded Noctis' being as he made his way up the staircase and through the top floor, which they'd turned into a game room and hobby room. All of Noctis' art supplies rested there, as well as a shielded-off corner of the room that they planned to turn into a dark room for Prompto sometime soon. It would be nice for him to develop his own pictures, Noctis had figured. Turning his attention away from them, he looked through the window, at where Prompto stood leaning against the railing and looking out at the river.

Swallowing nervously, Noctis crossed the room and opened the sliding glass door. "Prom?"

Prompto didn't answer right away, but he didn't need to. Noctis could hear the shaky breathing that usually went along with tears, and his heart sank from his chest and down to his stomach. Of course, he was emotional. Of course, he was crying. His entire world had been shaken so much in the past few weeks, not only by the knowledge that he was a clone, but by the fact that he'd been created for such dastardly purposes. A new rush of hatred toward Besithia flooded Noctis' being, and he really, _really_ wished that there was something he could do to take Prompto's pain and deal with it himself.

"Prom," Noctis repeated, walking up beside him and leaning against the railing. "Hey. Talk to me, okay? I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you want me to."

Still, Prompto didn't say anything. Noctis stood next to him, glancing at him for a second before turning to look out at the river, too. One of the worst things when Noctis felt miserable like Prompto was, was when people tried to force it out of him. When he was ready to talk, he would talk. Usually, it didn't take much to get Prompto to talk, but the past few weeks had pretty much shaken up everything he knew to be true. Loqi might have been better served to talk to him, but Noctis had seen him go straight to the cabin that he and Ravus shared and lock himself in. Noctis wasn't going to leave Prompto alone, but Astrals did he wish he knew what to do here.

Daring himself, he reached out his hand and placed on Prompto's forearm. It was just a tiny, physical show that Prompto wasn't alone and that Noctis was there if he was needed, but it seemed to be exactly what was needed. Prompto finally turned to him, throwing his arms around Noctis' neck and burying his face in Noctis' shoulder.

Noctis frowned. He hated this. He hated that there wasn't some magic fix out there, some way that he could just flick a switch and make Prompto feel better. All he could do was reach his arms up and hug Prompto tightly, reassure him without words that no matter where he came from, what he was 'created' for, Noctis would be damned if he was going to go anywhere. They stayed like that for at least five minutes, too, before Prompto finally spoke. By that time, Noctis' shoulder was thoroughly soaked with tears, but he didn't care. If Prompto needed it, Noctis would let him soak every shirt he had.

"Darkness," Prompto finally murmured against Noctis' shoulder. "Th-that's why he made me. He made me s-so that I could be a source for... for _darkness_." The last word was spoken with furious anger, and he clutched to Noctis a little bit tighter, desperation tensing his muscles.

One of Noctis' hands raised to smooth along Prompto's back. "He got that one pretty wrong," he countered simply.

Prompto pushed back from the hug, and looked Noctis in the eye. "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked, red and puffy eyes meeting Noctis' with desperation lining them. Like he was stuck in his own head and like, maybe, Noctis could pull him out.

Well, if there was any chance of that, Noctis would damn well try. Reaching a hand up, he wiped some moisture from Prompto's cheek and wiped it off on his own shirt. "Look at you, Prompto." The words were spoken softly, gently, even if Noctis couldn't muster a smile to go along with them at the moment. "If anyone can look at you and see darkness? They've got some pretty serious eye issues that they should totally get checked out right away."

Sniffling gently, Prompto blinked and more tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. "B-but, it's what he made me for. It's why I've, y'know, had the life I've had. It's w-why I was never allowed to be happy. It's why _Loqi_ has hated me for forever. Because we were made to be, like... darkness factories. So our blood could make daemons stronger." He looked down at the patio floor.

"Hey," Noctis crouched a little bit, putting himself into Prompto's field of vision and directing him so that they were eye to eye. "You're not a darkness factory." Prompto was looking at him now, and he stood back up straight, allowing the weakest of smiles when Prompto's gaze followed him. "If anyone could look at you and _see_ a darkness factory, I think they're pretty dumb."

Prompto shrugged. "Maybe, but... but that doesn't change that it's why I was made. Why Besithia waned me around to begin with..." he muttered.

The opposite hand, the one that's arm looked a little bit paler from the wrist and almost to the elbow, came to rest on Prompto's face. Not for the first time, he was grateful to be rid of the cast. "If anything, Prompto, you're light. Okay? I mean, look at me. Look at where I was before I met you." He smoothed his thumb along Prompto's cheek and caught a couple more tears. "When I met you, it was like I found light again," he finished with a weak smile.

It was close. It was _so close_ to the whole story; to everything that Noctis felt and thought. _So close_ to telling Prompto that he was in love. Honestly, he didn't know what was stopping him at this point. Prompto deserved to hear it, because he _was_ light incarnate. He deserved to know that he was loved. Not just by Aranea and Cindy, not just by Cid. Not even in the same way. He deserved to know that Noctis loved him, that Noctis would do literally anything to make him smile and to make him realize that there was no way that someone with a heart like his—with a _smile_ like his—could be any kind of darkness.

Instead, though, he smirked and said, "so, if you're light? I'm pretty sure that means that Besithia failed pretty epically at cultivating your darkness or what the hell ever he was trying to do."

Most of Noctis' life, he didn't feel like he'd done much of anything to be proud of. Fighting daemons was something that he'd done all his life, something that he was used to. Not anything worth celebrating. His art, maybe, but that was more of a hobby than anything to make a big deal out of, as far as he was concerned. The fact that Prompto actually managed to crack a smile, when seconds ago he'd been teetering on the edge of utter despair? Noctis could confidently say that he'd never felt so proud in his life. It brought a little grin to his own face as he brushed some of Prompto's bangs from his eyes again and leaned forward to kiss his best friend's forehead.

"Light, huh?" Prompto asked with a little smirk. "You think I'm light?"

Noctis nodded vehemently. "I mean, you brought _me_ light. You brought _us_ light. And no matter what your dad did to you, no matter what he tried to make you think and feel, you never let it break you. You never let it make you dark. That's probably why he kept calling you defective." He curled his lip when he said the word. It felt so wrong to even _think_ of Prompto as anything but perfect; anything but the beautiful and kind person that he was. Seeing that as a defect felt unfair.

The only solace that he took was the fact that he was only saying it to prove that it wasn't true. "He only called you that because you weren't 'dark' enough for him. Because you're actually sunlight in human form..." The words sounded stupid to his own ears, and brought heat to his cheeks, but that didn't mean that he meant them any less.

"I never thought hearing that I wasn't good enough would make me feel relieved," Prompto admitted.

With another hard shake of his head, Noctis met Prompto's eyes. "Don't say it like that, okay? It's not that you're not good enough. It's that you're _too_ good. That you're better than he ever could have expected you to be, and that you took all of that darkness and sadness that he wanted to make you feel, and let it turn you into... into you." A smile crept across Noctis' lips. "Into someone who can make everyone around him smile just by being there. Into someone that-" Close. He _almost_ said it, but chickened out at the last possible second. "Someone that deserves every bit of happiness in the world."

A wave of frustration threatened to knock Noctis to his feet. Again, it was a perfect moment for him to tell Prompto exactly how he felt. A chance to tell Prompto that he was in love. He didn't take it. Fear kept his mouth shut. Fear that was easy to pass off as not wanting to be selfish. Not wanting to take what was obviously a dark and sad time in Prompto's life and turn it into something that was all about Noctis. That was how he justified it to himself, and why he allowed himself to let it be like it was at the moment and wrap his arms tightly around Prompto again to pull him close.

"It's almost funny, isn't it? In a way?" Noctis asked. "How he tried to make you into this thing that was meant to manufacture darkness, but you don't. You like... you chase it away. If anyone's not good enough? It's him."

The back corner of his mind that was screaming at him for not being able to tell Prompto how he felt also felt a tiny bit of worry crop up. Prompto was supposed to be a darkness machine, but all of the tests called him inadequate. Loqi was closer to what he wanted, if the journals were to be trusted. What about the blood that he'd taken from Noctis, though? While he ran his hand along Prompto's back, a part of Noctis wondered exactly where _he_ fell on the darkness scale that Verstael seemed to be using. There was nothing in any of the notes about it, at least nothing that Ignis _or_ Loqi had been able to find so far. If he _did_ rate, Verstael was obviously keeping it close to the vest.

It wasn't important right then, was it? All that really mattered was taking the smile that he'd managed to bring back to Prompto and keeping it there. Making sure that nothing got to take it away again. So, he pulled back from the hug and met Prompto's eyes again. "You know," he started, chasing any thoughts or worries about his _own_ blood away, "I think we should take a walk to the river again. Maybe we can do the fishing that we never got the chance to do in Altissia."

For a second, Prompto went quiet, but then turned to look at Noctis with a little smile on his face. "Yeah, okay," he agreed.

"I was also thinking," Noctis added as he slid his fingers into Prompto's and clasped their hands together, "that we should go to Lestallum together sometime soon. Just the two of us, you know? M-maybe go to a movie, or get dinner, or just go shopping. Have the whole day just to us." A date. That was _all_ he had to say. It wasn't like it was the confession that he _should_ have given, but it was easier. "Y'know. Show off those clothes that we got in Lestallum and walk around together now that we can walk again."

Either Prompto didn't catch on, or he didn't really care one way or another, because he just smiled and stared at the floor beneath their feet as they walked back through the top level of their cabin. "I'd like that. Maybe we could do all of them. Dinner and a movie, and then shopping together. There were a couple of things that I saw last time I went to Lestallum with everyone that I wanted to pick up, anyway." He started down the stairs in front of Noctis, but still didn't let go of his hand.

Honestly, Noctis was perfectly fine with that. It was nice to _actually_ be able to properly hold hands with Prompto, anyway. They'd done it anyway, but they'd had to stand on one particular side and wouldn't have really been able to walk downstairs hand in hand easily like this. "I'm pretty okay with going anywhere now that we can walk there and don't have to go on crutches," he admitted with a little smirk.

Prompto nodded excitedly. "I know! I'm so stoked to be rid of those dumb things. Ignis kept reminding me not to overdo it," he chuckled bashfully.

"Kinda rich coming from him, isn't it?" Noctis added with a wry grin. "The one who's _still_ on crutches?"

A tiny bit of worry flashed across Prompto's face, and he glanced down at the floor again. "I'm still a little bit worried about him. Them," he amended. "Like, they looked normal today. Before, you know... all of that stuff." He frowned as he motioned in the vague direction of Hammerhead. "But what if they're, like... ignoring the problem again? What if they're-" He turned to look at Noctis. "W-why are you smiling?" Even as he asked, a smile overtook his own expression, like somehow, Noctis' smile was infectious or something.

Noctis hadn't even really noticed that he was smiling, either, but now he had. He was, though it was more of a quirked half-smirk than a real and true smile. He used his free hand to scratch the back of his head, marveling once again at the difference that a lack of a cast made. Breathing in deep and letting it out slowly, he glanced up to meet Prompto's eyes as the pair of them left the front door of their cabin. Before he spoke, he cast his eyes out around them to make sure that they were alone. They were, so he let the smile overtake his whole face before he burst out with what Ignis had told him earlier.

For starters, he told Prompto that, "Specs and the Big Guy are definitely fine. More than fine, probably," as the smile grew even wider.

"How do you know?" Prompto asked, but even as the question escaped, his own smile grew to match Noctis' again. Reward in and of itself. Prompto was his light normally, but with a smile like that on his face, it was enough to bring Noctis to his knees.

As Noctis shrugged his head to the side, he glanced over toward Ignis and Gladio's cabin, then back over at Prompto. "Well, I mean... they'd better be fine, if they're gonna get married..." he spoke coyly, biting down on one half of his lower lip as he peered up at Prompto through a curtain of hair.

The way Prompto's face changed from confusion, to realization, to happiness, was _more_ than enough reward for Noctis. Prompto's mouth hung open for a second, then blinked and glanced over at Ignis and Gladio's cabin like one of them was going to burst out the front door and tell him that it was all some sort of elaborate prank. "W-wait, _really_?!" he asked eagerly, excitement dancing in his eyes like someone lit them on fire.

And _hell_ was it sexy.

Noctis nodded, and he ducked his head again to hide the blush that he could feel creeping to his face. "Yeah. They told me today at the hospital. It's supposed to be a secret, but they knew that I'd tell you anyway, so... so they said I could. But it's, y'know, gotta stay between us, okay? They said they don't know when they plan on going through with it, but that Specs couldn't hold back when he woke up in the hospital. Apparently, they were both thinking about it, though..."

Prompto's smile in that moment could have moved mountains. Noctis wondered exactly how he'd managed to find his way from crushing sadness to smiling a smile that could make the world bend to his whim over the course of ten minutes, but honestly, he didn't care. If Prompto was happy, so was he. He squeezed a little tighter to Prompto's hand, and was taken off guard when, instead of a squeeze in return, he got a pair of warm and gentle arms thrown around him in a hug that seemed to force some of Prompto's happiness onto him in something of a weird osmosis.

That always happened, though. Whatever Prompto felt, Noctis felt, and when he reached up to embrace Prompto in a gentle-but-firm hug in return, he buried his face in Prompto's shoulder and murmured, "my dad loves you, by the way."

It really just slipped out. Something of an observation that he'd taken from watching his dad as he hugged Prompto, and as he thanked Prompto for the very same thing that Noctis had thanked him for a hundred thousand times. It was true, though. His dad loved Prompto, and Noctis was sure that the next time he went to Crystal Space just to spend time with his dad and Clarus, he would hear exactly how much his dad thought that Prompto was the best thing to ever happen to Noctis. It wasn't even like he was wrong. That wasn't a conversation for right now, though. Right now, he wanted to make sure that Prompto knew how much Noctis' dad loved him.

In the back of his mind, a flash of anger cropped up, though. He could say that his _dad_ loved Prompto effortlessly. When it came to Noctis' own love, though, he always backed away before the words actually escaped. It was stupid, and it made him borderline furious at himself. Even with the anger, though, he _still_ didn't speak up. He just buried his face further into Prompto's shoulder when his friend responded with a soft and gentle laugh.

"I guess today was more good than it was bad, huh?" Prompto simply mused as he pulled back from the hug and met Noctis' eye. "Gladio and Ignis are back on the same page again, your dad loves me. The only really bad thing that happened was the fact that we found out how bad my dad—how bad Besithia—really was..."

Noctis felt a frown tugging his lips downward at the mention of Prompto's father, and he nodded his head. "But even that's not all bad, because of how miserably he failed," he reminded Prompto.

With a little smile, Prompto nodded again. "Plus, we made plans for a date." Just as soon as the words escaped, though, Prompto brought his free hand up and clasped it to his mouth, like he was trying to shove the words back in. "I mean... not that it's a _date_ or anything, but we made plans to go to Lestallum when we get a chance, and-"

Before Noctis could stop himself, he shrugged his head to the side and craned his neck to the side so that he was in Prompto's space. "-go on a date..." he finished, telling Prompto that he hadn't made a mistake. "I mean. It doesn't have to be a date or anything, if you don't want it to. But... it doesn't have to _not_ be a date, either. If you _do_ want it to..." Just as quickly as he'd craned his neck so that he was looking into Prompto's eyes, he glanced away, toward the lounge, where a couple of lights were still on.

Prompto caught him off guard once again, though, and placed a hand against his cheek, turning his face so that they were eye to eye. "Can it be a date?" he asked quietly, his voice just barely a whisper.

Their whole trip to Altissia, they'd done things that could have been considered dates. Every time they went to the river, Noctis found himself wondering if they were going on little private dates, just the two of them. This was the first time they'd ever really put the label of _date_ on anything. Maybe it was stupid to be nervous. This was the person that he shared a bed with literally every single night. The person who he had kissed dozens of times, and who he'd made out with a handful of times, too. Throwing around the label of a date, though, made Noctis' stomach twist nervously against his volition, and as he met Prompto's eye, that nervousness morphed into an equally nervous smile when he nodded his head.

"I want it to be a date."

Biting his lip nervously, Prompto nodded his head and leaned forward, touching their foreheads together. "Then... it's a date." As soon as he finished, he locked their lips in a soft and gentle, but no less toe-curling, kiss.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't perfect at _all_. Prompto still had this horrible knowledge of the fact that a psychopath had created him with the goal to use him to strengthen something that was already pretty horrible on its own. Noctis, too, worried about his part in the man's plans. Both of those things, though, seemed less important when Prompto held him tightly and kissed him like this. A date. It wasn't a confession of love, and it wasn't anywhere near enough to make up for the horrible news that Prompto had just gotten. It was something, though. It was more than something.

To Noctis, it was everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running on a new once a week schedule for each of my fics! Into the Dark will now update every Monday, friends!
> 
> ♥♥
> 
> (Also! There's a new chapter of [Echoes in the Dark](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11412138/chapters/27832263) by my fave, [nicoleiacross](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross) out! Don't forget to check it out! ♥)


	17. Unexpected

Prompto still wasn't okay. He had a feeling that he wouldn't _be_ okay for a little while, honestly. Finding out that he'd been created as a clone was hard enough of a reality to swallow, but tacking all of this new information onto that; the fact that his dad—that _Besithia_ , since Prompto and Loqi had agreed that they wouldn't call him their father anymore—had created them with the sole purpose of turning them into daemon energy drinks? That was too much. It was so bad that, for the briefest of moments, Prompto had actually considered leaving. He'd considered packing up, and taking his 'darkness' away from all of the people that he loved. If it would take them out of danger, he'd have done it a hundred times over.

Much to his surprise, though, Noctis had _somehow_ managed to pull him out of that thought process, too. Just the sight of him, just having Noctis _with_ him, chased that thought away. The idea of leaving him wasn't one that Prompto wanted to entertain for too long. Of _course_ , he didn't want to leave the others, either. Aranea and Cindy. All of his new friends. Even _Loqi_ , now that they were starting to put together some kind of relationship. He couldn't leave even if he really wanted to, and he really _didn't_ want to.

Noctis had managed to make him rethink everything, too. He'd managed to make Prompto realize that Besithia had failed. While he'd _tried_ to turn Prompto into someone who projected darkness, somehow, Noctis seemed to think that he'd risen above it. Maybe he was right. Maybe Prompto _wasn't_ someone who spread darkness wherever he went. Was he light, though? Was he the light that Noctis seemed to think he was?

It didn't matter. If Noctis thought he was light; if Noctis thought that he was put into Noctis' life to light up the dark parts of Noctis' mind, then he would be light. He would do what he'd been doing his whole life, and push against the way that Besithia wanted him to be. He would be the failure that Besithia seemed to think he was. Especially... _especially_ if it helped Noctis somehow.

As they walked to the storage shed hand in hand, to get one of the portable daemon lights stored inside so that they could stay at the river after darkness fell, Prompto smiled as he looked over at Noctis. Whatever the two of them were—whether it was friends, more than friends, in a relationship... whatever it was—Prompto was pretty sure that he was the luckiest person in the world. To have gone from a place where, apparently, every aspect of his life to this point had _literally_ been created to turn him into a factory for misery, into a place where he couldn't look at the person he lived with and not want to explode into a cloud of happiness? If someone had told Prompto a year ago that this was where he would be now, he'd have laughed at them.

He was, though. And now, whether they were friends or something else, they had a date. Prompto may have used the words before Noctis had, but Noctis had agreed. Noctis had flat out asked Prompto on a date to Lestallum. Neither of them had set a time for their date—their _date_. Just thinking it made Prompto smile—but just knowing that it was something to look forward to made Prompto squeeze Noctis' hand tighter.

No matter how much Noctis thought that Prompto had saved _him_ from himself, he'd done just as much to save Prompto, too. He did it over and over again. Every time sadness threatened to claw Prompto down into its clutches, Noctis was there, reaching a hand down to pull him back. Someday, maybe he'd find the words to tell Noctis how grateful he was for that. Maybe he'd be able to tell Noctis how much it meant to him. For now, though, holding Noctis' hand as the pair of them turned away from the shed and started toward the river was enough.

Except, they'd barely made it two steps from the front of the lounge before a voice calling, "wait!" caught Prompto's attention.

Turning to look over his shoulder, Prompto blinked in surprise to see Ravus rushing toward them. Admittedly, no matter how much the man seemed to be different from that night at Galdin Quay months ago, every time Prompto saw him, all he could do was think back to how scared he'd been in Keycatrich. To how Ravus had, for whatever reason, tried to kill him. He didn't _seem_ like a cold-blooded killer. He didn't _seem_ like he'd do something like that for no reason.

Still, without knowing for sure... what was he supposed to think? He found himself side-stepping to hide behind Noctis a little bit, trying desperately to keep his expression level as he looked at Ravus. Noctis finished the step, standing protectively in front of Prompto like he ready to throw a punch if he had to. "Ravus, we were on our way out. Can it wait?"

"I assure you, Caelum. If it could wait, I would have waited," Ravus remarked in annoyance, before glancing over Noctis' shoulder at Prompto. "I apologize for interrupting whatever the pair of you had planned. I honestly do. I require Prompto's assistance for a moment, though. Loqi is taking the news from earlier significantly harder than I had expected, and I am having a hard time pulling him out of it. I had hoped that you could assist him in a way I couldn't, Prompto. Please?" He looked nervous and concerned, and like a completely different person than he'd be in Galdin all those weeks ago.

As much as Prompto wished that he could just cast everything aside and go to the river with Noctis, he couldn't. Especially not when he took into account that the one person who _truly_ understood what he was probably feeling at the moment was Loqi. Clasping down hard on his lower lip with his teeth, he stepped out from behind Noctis, placing a hand on his shoulder and nodding nervously.

"It's okay," Prompto murmured. "I... we can go to the river after, right? Or... or tomorrow? I think-"

Noctis looked hesitant for a second, but eventually he nodded his head, pushed a bit of Prompto's hair from his eyes and smiled a gentle smile. There was a tiny little flicker of uncertainty in his expression that Prompto figured had to do with the fact that he didn't completely trust Loqi yet. It was okay, though. Aranea and Cindy felt the same, and honestly, it was probably for the best. It prevented Prompto from giving his trust completely and getting stomped on.

Breathing a nervous breath, Prompto said, "where is he?" to Ravus, before squeezing tightly on Noctis' hand and then releasing it to his side.

Ravus seemed to visibly relax, and as much as Prompto wished that he could allow that to relax him, he couldn't. "I'll take you to him. He's locked himself inside our bathroom, and he won't open the door for me no matter what I try. Caelum, would you be terribly offended if I asked you to go and inform Weskham and Cor that Loqi and I are going to have to cancel the hunts that we decided to take on tonight?" he asked.

That... was unexpected, and added a new layer of tension to Prompto's feelings on the situation. He turned to look at Noctis, who looked unsure as he looked back at Prompto. Like he was asking Prompto if it was okay, if he was okay with it. As much as he wanted to say he was, he was still a little bit nervous. Ravus didn't look like the same person in that moment. No, instead, he looked more like someone who was concerned for a loved one. Someone who wanted to fix things and didn't know how. Prompto understood that feeling; he related it to how Noctis felt every time he talked about his dad. It was that more than anything that made him nod his head, despite the nervous swallow he gave at the same time.

"I-it's okay, Noct. I... I'll be okay," Prompto reassured his friend.

Noctis still didn't look sure, and the appraising eye he cast Ravus' way confirmed it, but slowly, he nodded back and flashed Prompto an uncertain gaze. "Alright. I'm gonna come over there afterward, though. Check and see how you guys are doing..." There were some unspoken words in there, a silent 'and save you if things are too rough,' that made Prompto relax more than it had any right to.

And with that, Noctis departed, leaving Prompto alone with Ravus for the first time since Galdin Quay. To say that he was nervous was an understatement. He looked at Ravus for a couple of moments, taking in the man's tall and imposing presence, before trying to clear his throat and sound confident. It came out as more of a pathetic squeak instead, though, and Prompto wished immediately that he could take it back.

Instead, he nodded once. "L-let's go. Okay?" 'Get this over with' went unsaid.

Ravus nodded, put paused first and placed a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "On our way, I think you and I are long overdue for a chat. Don't you?"

That was what finally made Prompto freeze. He blinked dumbly up at Ravus, then clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails started to dig into his palms. Not from anger, but from anxiety. It really _was_ the first time he'd been alone with Ravus since back at Galdin Quay, and it was really hitting him in that moment. He swallowed, then looked up at Ravus with a single, stiff nod.

"I... yeah. I mean... th-there's some things I want to ask you, but... b-but I-"

With a gentle sigh that took Prompto off guard more than anything else had, Ravus nodded his head. "I've been looking for an opportune moment to speak with you by ourselves, Prompto. I know that I owe you a rather substantial apology," he explained. "It's not one that I would prefer to give in front of Caelum and the others, as you know how strained things are between us. Caelum doesn't trust me. I may trust him, but I don't like him. I'm reasonably certain that Ignis would sooner see me fall into the Disc than let me speak to you alone, not to mention Highwind and Aurum..." As he said that, he glanced over his shoulder like he was worried that Ignis, Aranea, or Cindy were going to appear around the corner or something.

Prompto raked his teeth over his lip. "I... I don't think that they would _do_ anything like that, though..." he replied, finally taking the couple of steps that Ravus had taken without him. "They... I know you guys have some pretty complicated feelings and everything, especially with Ignis and the whole Gladio situation, but... but they're doing better now."

It took very little effort not to betray the confidence that Noctis had shown in telling him about Gladio and Ignis' engagement. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulder. "I think... they're more focused on each other right now, you know? Than worrying about someone who might... who might have caused problems in the past." He tried, but regardless of how confident he _felt_ , it was hard to show it in the face of a man that scared him as much as Ravus did.

"I suppose you're right," Ravus admitted with a soft chuckle. "That... ah, I'm doing it again. I didn't want to talk to you to talk about Gladiolus and Ignis, Prompto. Like I said, I owe you a rather substantial apology, and an even larger explanation. I would like to tell you why I did what I did that night, is that okay?"

Was it okay? Prompto wished that he was as confident as Noctis or Loqi was, because this was around the time that either of them would have spoken up with some kind of sarcastic remark or something to tell Ravus that, of _course_ he wanted to know why Ravus had done what he did. He wasn't as confident as either of them, though, so instead he just nodded his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Another sigh, and Ravus shrugged his head to the side. "My motives were simple. Slightly selfish perhaps, but simple." He brushed some hair from in front of his eyes and then glanced down at the grass below his feet, before placing a hand on his prosthetic arm and yanking slightly on it. It made a slight creak, but Ravus didn't let it faze him at all. "I had several reasons. The first of which had to do with some rather... worrisome threats that Besithia made regarding Loqi that evening. If I didn't take the job, he 'wasn't certain what would happen to Loqi,' or something to that effect." He turned to glance at Prompto. "I would not have been able to live with myself if I sat idly by and let Besithia harm Loqi, and didn't do whatever I could to stop it. Considering your close relationship with Caelum, I'm certain that you can at least understand that."

The words weren't a question, but they didn't need to be. Prompto nodded. "Yeah. Of course I do..." he murmured. If someone was threatening Noctis, Prompto would have done whatever he could to keep the threats from being realities, so he definitely understood.

A single nod, and Ravus continued. "The second reason, as hard as it is to believe, was for your own benefit." He glanced down at the ground. "I realize that leaving you for dead in a cave full of daemons seems like it's anything but beneficial. However, it wouldn't have mattered if I had taken the job or not, Prompto. Your father was determined to... to _dispose_ of you. He'd deemed you too much of-" he stopped short, not wanting to finish his sentence, obviously.

"A failure..." Prompto finished dismally.

It was weird to see Ravus flinch, but when Prompto finished the sentence for him, that was exactly what happened. Slowly, he nodded and frowned, glancing over at Prompto and answering. "By his very skewed, very flawed standards, Prompto. I would dare say that being a failure by his standards is a good thing, though. Wouldn't you?"

Maybe, but that didn't make Prompto feel any better about it. Still, rather than say anything about that, he took the praise from Ravus for what it was and nodded his head. "I know. That's... that's kind of what Noct was saying to me a few minutes ago." He pointed over his shoulder toward their cabin and then looked back down at the grass beneath his feet. "I don't really want to be a failure by anyone's standards, b-but... at the same time, I think it's better if I am in this case. Because if I wasn't..." If he wasn't, he'd have been a success. He'd have been the darkness factory that Besithia wanted him to be, and that was worse.

Once again, Ravus made a face, as he reached his non-prosthetic arm behind his head and pulled his hair into a lazy ponytail. "I've sidetracked us again," he murmured. He wasn't trying to _close_ the topic or anything, but Prompto could tell that he had a lot more that he wanted to say. A lot more that he wasn't saying. "While I _did_ have my reasons for doing what I did, that doesn't make it okay."

If he was waiting for Prompto to argue, he was in for a long wait. Still, the situation hadn't really been _good_ , but it hadn't been all bad, either. "I did get my aeon from it, though," he pointed out.

Ravus nodded his head. "That is true, absolutely. And you survived it in general. Which is... when I heard that, I was far more grateful than I had any right to be. I had no desire to see you die, Prompto. I want to make that perfectly clear," he explained. "It came down to protecting Loqi, and ensuring that anyone else that Besithia may have hired for the job didn't just kill you outright. I wanted to ensure that you had a chance to survive. I knew that Caelum would come for you. That all of the others would come for you." He gestured with his prosthetic arm to the compound, signifying the rest of the team. "I never anticipated losing your glasses, though..."

"C-couldn't you have-" Prompto interrupted, but stopped short. Being confident was still a new thing. Something that he was still getting used to.

A silent nod from Ravus encouraged him to continue, though.

Prompto swallowed nervously and nodded back. "Couldn't you have... y'know, j-just told us? Told us that Besithia was trying to have me killed, or that he was threatening Loqi, or... or anything that you just told me? B-because I know that you guys didn't exactly have the best relationship or anything back then... that you _still_ don't... but Gladio still listened to you a couple of months ago when you tried to warn him. They'd... they'd have listened, Ravus. I know they would have. At least Gladio and Luna would have..." he explained.

With a sheepish laugh, Ravus smoothed his non-prosthetic arm along the back of his neck. "Admittedly, that had to do more with my own sheer cowardice, and a genuine detestation of relying on others," he told Prompto. "I was unsure of how to broach the topic, first of all. Second of all, even if I did try to tell everyone, they would have stopped it from happening, which could have _possibly_ resulted in Besithia deciding to dispose of Loqi, too. I know that it was less than ideal, Prompto. It was the only choice I had at the time, however. And I genuinely apologize." He turned to look at Prompto then, seriousness in his eyes. "I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me, but I can understand if you can't. It was truly unforgivable."

To that, Prompto was speechless. He looked from Ravus to the ground, stopping when he realized that they were in front of Loqi and Ravus' cabin. Much to his surprise, the apology seemed sincere. As much as Prompto was terrified that night, and as much as he hoped that he never had to go through it again, could he really fault Ravus for doing exactly what he'd have done in the same situation?

No. No, he couldn't.

"It's..." Prompto paused, before the acceptance of Ravus' apology came out and told him that it was okay. Was it okay? Not really. While he'd apologized, that didn't change the fact that he'd almost gotten Prompto killed. Still, he'd had reasons, and they were as good as reasons for something like that _could_ be. So, instead, he pulled in a breath, puffed it out through his lips, and said, "I forgive you." With a nod and a weak smile. "It... it might not be that easy to get _Noct_ to forgive you, but-"

Ravus glanced in the direction that Noctis had walked off in, and then looked back at Prompto. "I don't care in the slightest what Caelum thinks of me, to be completely honest. You, however, are Loqi's brother. Your opinion matters more than most people on this compound," he explained, his expression almost conflicted. "If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know." That was added with an attempt at a cool smile. It fell short, and Prompto could see that he was still a little bit uncomfortable.

If Prompto had to guess, he would've said that Ravus really _did_ care what Noctis thought. He cared what _everyone_ on the compound thought, whether he would admit it or not. Still, Prompto had a feeling that it wasn't an easy thing for him to admit. Especially since Noctis had told him that Ravus always seemed to be on the outs with them. Even when he'd lived here before, years ago, there had always been some level of conflict. So, Prompto reasoned, it was probably very difficult for that old habit to die. If he wanted to bridge the gap between Noctis and Ravus, between the _others_ and Ravus, he would have to be somewhat sneaky.

With that in mind, Prompto clamped down on his lower lip, before glancing at Ravus and asking, "anything?" with a tilt of his head.

Ravus nodded. "I owe you quite a bit, so. Anything," he answered.

"Be honest with me, then," Prompto told him, his voice holding a level of confidence that he never would have expected it to be able to hold. "You don't hate anyone here. And you _do_ care what they think. Don't you?"

It didn't look like Ravus was going to answer at first. His expression twisted from confusion to frustration, and then from frustration to exasperation. Finally, he puffed out a breath, glancing toward the door to the cabin he shared with Loqi and then looking back at Prompto. "The two of you are truly brothers, Prompto," he finally settled on.

While it wasn't _really_ an answer, it kind of was at the same time. At least Prompto thought maybe it was. From what he'd observed of Loqi and Ravus together, Loqi always seemed to get the truth out of Ravus one way or another. The pair of them showed one another softer sides that they didn't really show to anyone else. Prompto wasn't sure if that was what Ravus was playing at, but he had a vague hunch.

"Is that your way of saying that... that I'm right?" Prompto asked, his stutter choosing that moment to show his uncertainty.

With a breath of laughter, Ravus nodded once. "Indeed. It's... rather more complicated than that, but you are not wrong," he answered. "I'm sure that you have been informed of why I left the compound years ago. It was less about anyone here, and more about finding out why Lunafreya was ill. I bear no ill will against anyone, save maybe for Ulric, and I find myself in an odd position where even _that_ is waning." He scowled still when he spoke Nyx's name, but when the scowl faded, it was replaced with a look of concern, of confusion. Like, before now, he hadn't realized what he was saying to be true. "I'm not certain why or how. However, I _am_ certain that you are correct, Prompto. I do not hate anyone here. This was truly the last place that I recall feeling like I had a family."

Prompto simply blinked at Ravus for a few seconds, then looked at the door to the cabin that he and Loqi shared. "Well, um... y-your secret's safe with me, Ravus..." he finally said. "Should we... do you want me to-"

Nodding, Ravus dug the keys to his cabin out from the pocket of his jeans. "Yes. Of course. And thank you, Prompto. For listening to me, for forgiving me, and for forcing me to realize that very important fact about myself..." he mused with a sheepish laugh.

That made Prompto go completely quiet for a few seconds, because he wasn't really sure if it had been _him_ that made Ravus realize that he cared about everyone, or if it had always been there and he refused to admit it to himself. It didn't matter right then, though, because he was there for a reason, and that was to see if he could convince Loqi to open up.

Ravus and Loqi's cabin wasn't really unpacked yet, which Prompto supposed made sense. They'd really only been there for a couple of days in the grand scheme of things. In the corner, however, Loqi's work bench sat with a whole bunch of tools on top of it. Amidst all of the tools stood the drone that he'd used when they'd fought Ignis and Luna's daemon selves. It looked like it was just freshly repaired, and Prompto was honestly amazed at the fact that Loqi was so handy. He knew that Loqi was smart. An actual genius, though those brains were probably given to him by Besithia's experiment. The thought made Prompto cringe and shake his head no. If Loqi's brains were forced upon him by Besithia, then why didn't Prompto have them, too? Those were Loqi's own.

On the other side of the room was a bottle of wine—Prompto recognized it as one from Luna's collection—on a table with two glasses. One of them was stained slightly red, like it had been used very recently, and the other was completely dry. Obviously, it _hadn't_ been used recently.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Prompto glanced toward the door, which stood directly adjacent to the closet. This used to be Weskham and Cor's room, before they'd moved into Regis and Clarus' old room. It still had bits and pieces of their influence. The floors were a soothing gray color, and the walls were a sepia brown that Prompto figured that they'd chosen together. Loqi didn't really seem like a brown and gray person, though, so Prompto was reasonably sure that he'd want to redecorate it before long. Though, that all depended on how long they planned to stay, he guessed.

As he walked toward the bathroom door, he pushed that out of his mind. Prompto took one last glance over his shoulder at Ravus, who was looking at him with a little bit of nervousness and a little bit of hope in his expression, nodded once at him. Sucking in a sharp breath, nodding once more at himself, and telling himself that it would be okay, he raised his hand and rapped softly on the door three times.

"Rae, I told you. I'm not coming out." Loqi's voice sounded miserable. Sad. Unlike Prompto had ever heard it before. Suddenly, Prompto's heart ached for him.

Still, Prompto cleared his throat and said, "Loqi... it... it's not Ravus. I-it's me. C-can I come in?" he asked, wincing when he stuttered. What on Eos had ever given Ravus the idea that he was the right person to talk to Loqi right now? Loqi probably wouldn't even open the door for him. Their relationship, their attempt at brotherhood, was still new. Why would he open the door for someone he probably still didn't like a whole lot?

Except, seconds later, the door _did_ move. At first, Prompto heard the scraping sounds of the lock on the other side twisting, and then seconds later, the knob twisted. Loqi didn't pull it all the way open. In fact, from where Prompto stood, it looked like he just twisted the knob and let it open as far as it would with the natural force of the movement. It was something, though. An invitation, maybe. And Prompto would take it. He pushed on the door and walked into the room, unsure of what to expect when he got to the other side.

Seeing Loqi sitting against the wall on the opposite side of the room was _not_ it, but it was what he got. He had his arms crossed on top of his knees, and his forehead resting on top of his crossed arms, so that all Prompto could see was his hair. Usually, that was how Prompto sat when he was having some kind of anxiety attack, but Loqi didn't have anxiety attacks, did he? Prompto swallowed nervously, and pushed the door closed behind him, reaching a hand up and twisting the lock. It was meant to comfort, and much to his surprise, the sound of the sliding lock managed to get Loqi to lift his head and meet Prompto's eye.

Red and puffy eyes, and cheeks streaked with moisture, was the last thing Prompto expected to see. "Rae came to get you, huh?"

Prompto nodded, though he stayed in place at first. Admittedly, he was a little bit nervous to actually approach Loqi. Every other time he'd accidentally seen Loqi in a mood like this, it always ended with Loqi getting mad at him and calling him a stretch of whatever angry word happened to pop into his mind. Old habits hadn't exactly died yet. So, he simply leaned back against the door and looked Loqi over in concern. It made total sense, why he was feeling like this. Hell, Prompto couldn't even say that he was feeling much different, honestly. But, it was still a little bit jarring.

Loqi sighed heavily as he looked up to meet Prompto's eyes. "Why are you so calm about this? Like, why don't you look _pissed off_ or _depressed_ or _something_ like that?" His tone was sharp, frustrated, but somehow, even _with_ that, Prompto got the feeling that he was somewhat glad that Prompto wasn't feeling that way.

Or, that he _thought_ that Prompto wasn't feeling that way, anyway.

Prompto shook his head. "I'm not calm," he admitted. "I freaked out, too. I... I almost left. When I got back here, I wanted to pack my bags and leave. Because if I was made for darkness, why should I be around people that weren't. R-right? I wanted to. I..." He didn't anymore, but he had. Really, really badly.

"Me too," Loqi admitted miserably. "Still kinda do."

While Prompto didn't _still_ want that, he understood why Loqi did. It was a harsh blow that they'd both taken. It would've been surprising if they _didn't_ both feel a little bit down on themselves. Or a lot. Probably a lot. Taking a couple of steps closer to Loqi, he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I... I'm glad you didn't," he admitted.

A soft, humorless laugh escaped Loqi's throat and he glanced up at Prompto. "You'd better be," he answered. "Since you're about fifty percent of the reason I didn't." He pushed some of his hair back from his face and then beckoned for Prompto to finish crossing the room. "And don't walk like I'm some kind of rabid dog that's gonna bite you if you get too close. We're brothers, right? So... y'know. Act like it." He patted the ground next to him, before crossing his arms at his knees again.

As much as he wished that he could, Prompto couldn't stop himself from tensing at the sharpness of Loqi's tone. Still, he did as Loqi asked, crossing the room and sitting down on the floor a couple of feet away from Loqi. "What's with us and sitting on floors?" he asked without thinking. It was a stupid question. Something silly that entered his mind randomly. Usually, he was good at keeping those back.

Much to his surprise, Loqi laughed a little bit, before wiping at his eyes with the outside of his palm. "Guess it's what people who were created to be fucking darkness factories do," he answered.

"We're not darkness factories, though." Prompto wasn't sure why he felt so confident saying so about Loqi, since, for years, he'd more or less fallen in line with what their dad wanted and _become_ one, but if Prompto could do anything to keep Loqi from feeling too miserable anymore, he'd do it in half a heartbeat.

It didn't seem to be working, though, because Loqi just made an annoyed noise through his nose and shrugged his head to the side. "Maybe you're not. Me, though? I'm... _look_ at me, Prompto. For years, I did exactly what he asked me to without question. I isolated myself, I isolated you... I almost fucking _tortured_ you. I let him use my blood and I had no idea what it was being used for. I'm a fucking idiot," he huffed, but Prompto heard the sniffle that he tried to hide underneath it. "I _am_ a darkness factory. I'm probably the only reason his experiments _got_ this far."

Prompto frowned. "You didn't feel like you had a choice, though..." he added.

" _Exactly_!" Loqi seethed. "I didn't feel like I had a choice, because I was _so fucking worried_ about dad loving me-"

Dad. Prompto winced. "Besithia..." he interrupted.

Loqi blinked. "R-right..." he huffed a humorless laugh. "Besithia. Still don't understand why you're so fucking nice to me, after all the bullshit I put you through. I'm pretty much the last person you should care about..." He stared blankly at the floor.

It was sad, hearing someone that Prompto always saw as confident and together, talking about himself like this. In spite of the voice in his head that told him that it wasn't a good idea, Prompto reached a hand up and placed it gently on Loqi's shoulder. "I do care about you, though," he said softly. "You're... y-you're my brother, Loqi. I care about you, and I want to help you. Okay?"

When Loqi turned to look at him, it was more of a surprised look than anything. His eyes fell upon Prompto's hand where it rested on his shoulder, and he swallowed nervously, before turning back to glance at Prompto's face. "You... you know," he murmured, "I really... I wonder more often than ever why I listened to him, Prompto. You're... you weren't a defect. I just... I just wanted to make sure you know that. Maybe by his standards, you were, but... fuck his standards, okay? His standards are fucked up, and the only standards that really matter are the people who care about you. You're not a defect. You're... you're the opposite." His eyes were lined with tears again, and he looked like he wanted to let them overflow.

Prompto squeezed his shoulder a little tighter. "You're not either, Loqi, okay? Y-you might've listened to him more than I did, and maybe you _were_ what he wanted you to be, but... but it's not too late. We'll fix it, and I'll help you. And y-you... maybe you can help me, too. Help me be more confident like you are. Because you..."

"You don't wanna be anything like me, Prompto. Don't-"

But Prompto stopped him, shaking his head desperately. Tears sprang to his own eyes. Maybe he was feeding from Loqi's energy, or maybe, seeing Loqi so vulnerable right then was reminding him of everything that he'd just learned. Whatever it was, though, it definitely brought tears to his eyes. "I do, though," he finally answered. "Whether or not you realize it, Loqi... y-you're cool." It sounded stupid, and he almost started crying about _that_ , too. "Confident. And... you usually don't take anyone's crap. So... maybe we can help each other. R-right? I'll help you be... y'know... less like he wanted you to be, and you can help me become less what he _made_ me into."

Snorting a laugh, Loqi said, "I helped him, though. Remember? I don't deserve... you shouldn't want to..." And when Prompto met his eyes, he saw that Loqi was crying again.

"I want to, though. Maybe... that's how we can really be brothers?" His nerves showed clearly in his voice, but he couldn't help it.

Prompto expected some sort of verbal answer. For Loqi to say _something_ or make some snarky comment that made him feel stupid for even suggesting it. He expected anger. What he absolutely _didn't_ expect, though, was for Loqi to shift in place, reach up, and wrap his arms tightly around Prompto's shoulders. Loqi buried his face in Prompto's shoulders and nodded, brushing his face against the fabric of Prompto's shirt.

His voice was muffled, but he answered, "okay," with a nervous shake in his tone.

That, more than anything, was finally what broke Prompto down. Noctis' words were still in his mind, but the fact that their father had been so determined to break both of them down, and had succeeded with Loqi, to the point that he was almost impossible to build back up? That made Prompto's heart hurt. He hugged Loqi back, and when he felt his brother clinging to the back of his shirt like he was _terrified_ that Prompto would leave or take the words back, he broke down, too. As Loqi cried in his shoulder, apologizing to him for everything that had ever happened, Prompto cried too, accepting his apologies in a quiet voice over the top of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❤❤❤ These dumb brothers need each other.


	18. Accord

When Noctis got to Weskham and Cor's room, they weren't there. The light in their study was on, which likely meant that they'd _been_ there recently, but they'd moved. A glance over his shoulder told him that the lights in the lounge—more specifically, the kitchen—were on, and he turned away from their cabin, heading in that direction instead. It wasn't unlike Weskham, honestly, to go to the kitchen and prepare some sort of massive and special dinner after an emotionally charged meeting or situation. Given the way Prompto—and apparently Loqi—was feeling, Noctis half-expected to walk into the lounge and smell daggerquill rice.

He was close. When he pushed the door open, he caught a whiff of another of Prompto's favorites. Curry. A strong curry smell wafted out from the kitchen and into the rest of the lounge, and while Noctis didn't love curry the same way as Prompto did, he definitely liked it. The tiniest of smiles—a little less genuine than he wished it could be—ghosted across his face as he followed the scent into the kitchen.

The unsurprising part was that Weskham and Cor were here to begin with. The _surprising_ part had more to do with the fact that, while Weskham stirred a pot of soup on the stove, Cor looked over one of Verstael's documents that Ignis had brought home. It also came as a bit of a relief. Ignis and Gladio's lights were off. That likely meant that Ignis was asleep, which meant that he wasn't obsessing over the research anymore, which meant that he'd learned his lesson. Still, seeing _Cor_ as the one poring over the research instead of Weskham was equally jarring. Weskham was very similar to Ignis in that he always liked to be the one to look over paperwork. Cor, in his way, was similar to Gladio. Smart, but that intellect was hidden behind a fierce protectiveness that sometimes made him seem like the 'dumb' one of the pair.

He wasn't, not by a long shot, but to outside eyes, Noctis was sure that it seemed that way.

Still, even knowing that Cor was smart in his own right, seeing him poring over the journal like he was, was a little bit unsettling. As was the fact that neither man seemed to notice Noctis' presence. They were too wrapped up in their conversation. Weskham sighed down at the pot as he stirred the curry around, before turning his head toward Cor.

"I'm not sure what is more troubling about this, Cor," Weskham explained. "That the poor lads were tormented from birth, or that we don't know what this means in regards to-"

Cor, who had looked up and was now locking eyes square with Noctis, closed the journal in his hands and stood up straight. "Noct," he greeted, successfully cutting off the end of Weskham's sentence as he set the journal down on the table. "What're you doing here? Thought you'd be with Prompto."

The tone was weirdly panicked, at least as far as normal Cor tones of voice were concerned. Cor and Weskham were always pretty calm, all things considered. Seeing Cor frazzled, like he was feeling _some_ kind of panic was unsettling. Noctis didn't call attention to it; instead, he just turned his head to glance at Weskham as he turned around and looked at Noctis.

"I was," Noctis answered, trying to hide any suspicion that he may have felt. If Cor and Weskham were keeping something unsaid, there was probably a reason. Right? He swallowed, shrugged, and glanced in the direction of Ravus and Loqi's cabin. "We were gonna go to the river," he explained, holding up the daemon light, "but Ravus showed up and said that he needed Prompto's help. That he couldn't get Loqi to talk. I... I dunno if it's a good idea, but Prompto wanted to help him out, so..." He trailed off, his expression unsure as he turned to look back at Weskham.

Weskham nodded his head. "Of course you're hesitant, lad," he offered gently. "And it's good that you are, because Prompto certainly won't be on his own. I suspect, however, that the days of harshness between Prompto and Loqi have passed. I fully understand and respect that you are, perhaps, taking more time to get to trust than Prompto is. The lads need each other, though."

Noctis nodded. "Especially now..." he agreed. As much as he hated it, as much as he didn't trust Loqi, if Loqi wanted to finally try and be Prompto's brother... then it was good. Right?

Cor nodded, smiling an uncharacteristically and strangely soft smile. "Both of 'em need each other. Can't say I was too fond of Loqi at first, but he had it just as rough as Prompto did. I think being here, away from his old man, is gonna be good for him, too. Maybe giving him some work to do, helping Iggy when Iggy's in research shape again, will make him feel better, too. Help him feel like he's pushing out against what Besithia did to him," he shrugged a shoulder.

With a nod, Noctis glanced over toward Loqi and Ravus' cabin. "I still don't like him. But as long as he doesn't hurt Prompto, I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it." At this point, he didn't think that he'd ever really be friends with Loqi, but... he could swallow his pride, if it meant that Prompto got to have the family he deserved.

"What brings you over here, anyway, Noctis? You said Prompto was with Loqi, but I would have assumed that you'd be waiting outside of the door for their conversation to end." Weskham's voice had a fondly amused lilt to it, and he shrugged his head to one side.

Noctis laughed a soft and slightly embarrassed laugh. "I was gonna, but Ravus told me to come and let you guys know that he and Loqi weren't gonna be able to take on the hunts that they signed up for tonight. Ravus said that Loqi's not feeling up to it," he explained. That really didn't explain why _Ravus_ wasn't going, but Noctis assumed that it was kind of like why Noctis wasn't hunting, even though Prompto was the one who had gotten the devastating news. They were a team, just like Prompto and Noctis were.

Nodding a single nod, Weskham half-smiled. "We had already found our way to that assumption, lad. It's quite alright. I think, after Altissia, we all earned a night off. An extra night's rest will put you in prime fighting condition, too." He turned back to the soup and started stirring it around,

In that moment, Noctis breathed in deeply, thinking back to the conversation that he'd had with Gladio and Ignis earlier about the scar on his back. He had promised them that he'd tell Wesk and Cor about how bad it really was. Was now the time for it? Probably not. They both seemed to have other things on their minds, and Noctis really did want to get back to Ravus and Loqi's room to wait for Prompto to come back. Still, if Gladio asked, if Ignis asked, and Weskham and Cor found out from someone who _wasn't_ Noctis... that probably wouldn't be too good either, would it? Letting out the breath he'd taken in a heavy huff, then swallowing nervously, he glanced up to meet Cor's gaze.

"Cor... Wesk? I was talking with Gladio and Ignis earlier, and they... they told me that I should tell you something. You mentioning recovery... it reminded me of it."

After a brief silence, Cor glanced at Weskham, and a knowing glance crossed his face before he turned to look back at Noctis. "Is it about your injury? The one from a year ago?" he asked.

As soon as the words escaped Cor's lips, Noctis' eyes went wide for a second, before falling in the quickest pair of blinks he ever recalled giving. "I..." All he could really do was stammer in reply. They'd known about the injury, but not the severity of it. So, why was that the first thing that they jumped to?

Weskham sighed a soft note. "Ignis spoke to us earlier today. He explained that Gladiolus asked you to tell us, but he wanted to make it a little bit easier on you. We were, of course, shocked..." he started.

"And pissed," Cor added. "All those hunts you took on your own before you were recovered. All the times you could've been killed."

In the back of his mind was a protest. A protest, telling Cor and Weskham that he hadn't cared too much back then. He'd just lost his father and half of his family was moving to a whole different country so that his fragile little pathetic mind and heart hadn't been forced to fight with Gladio every day. Everything that he was going through back then was his own fault, so of course he hadn't cared too much about whether he'd lived or died. That protest probably wouldn't have gone over well, though, so he stowed it. It wasn't that big of a deal anymore, anyway. He hadn't felt like that since dealing with Prompto's daemon self.

Cor didn't really look like he was _angry_ , so much as he was relieved. Annoyed, maybe. But also, like he held a vague level of understanding. "I'm not gonna get pissed at you for it. Maybe back then I would've. Now that there's been more time for all of that to simmer, though, and now that they're not fresh wounds anymore, I think we should all try and put it in the past. No, I'm not thrilled. Yeah, it makes me worry about you a little bit more, but you're in a better place now, right?" he asked.

Noctis nodded.

"And you're definitely never going to do something quite so stupid again, are you?" Weskham added, his tone slightly more stern than Cor's was. He was saying without saying, more or less, that he was a little bit angrier than Cor about it, but he also wanted to put it behind them.

Noctis shook his head.

With a gentler smile, Weskham set his stirring spoon down and walked across the room, wrapping his arms around Noctis and pulling him in for a hug. "Please, promise me that if you ever find yourself injured like that again, you will tell us. That way, we can seek proper care for you, and we can ensure that you don't overwork yourself," he insisted. He pulled back from the hug and looked Noctis square in the eye. "Or else, we may be forced to inform your father of the situation, and I very highly doubt that he will be as forgiving as we are." That part... that sounded more like he'd expected Weskham to sound. Angry, but not angry at the same time. His expression was stern, too.

While Noctis had the vague comfort of knowing that _he_ had to bring the others into Crystal Space, he probably would have done it if Cor and Weskham asked in that situation, too, despite knowing that they'd probably tell his dad. Mostly, because this was the type of thing that he'd always have told his dad when he was alive.

"Okay," Noctis agreed, raking his teeth over his lip as he averted his gaze from Weskham's. "I wasn't... I wasn't trying to-"

Weskham nodded. "I know, lad. I know," he said, his tone softer now. "Things are very different now, though. I'm sure you're aware of how much we rely on you. Prompto especially." That last bit was added with a wry little smile as he released Noctis from the hug and turned back to the soup he'd been making. "I hate to think of what that poor lad would do if anything were to happen to you." His eyes turned to Cor.

Chuckling softly, Cor nodded once and looked back up at Noctis. "People throw the term 'lost without you' around, but I'm pretty sure that Prompto would pretty much exemplify that if you didn't come back from a hunt one day." There was a slightly mischievous glint in his eye as he approached Noctis and clapped him on the shoulder.

Heat rose to Noctis' cheeks, and he shrugged a shoulder. "I'm... maybe..." he muttered. But now was really not the time to be having this conversation. So, he shook his head, cleared his throat, and looked at Cor. "Can I, um... can I go? I wanna go check on Prompto, you know? Since he's with Loqi, and-"

Again, Cor chuckled. He nodded once, shaking Noctis' shoulder. "Running away when we start to tease you about your love life, huh?" he asked, still teasing all the same.

Noctis' cheeks heated up even more, and he shook his head. "N-no! No, it's not... it's not like I'm... you know... scared of talking about it or anything!" A lie. "I just... I just don't wanna leave Prompto alone with Loqi for any longer than I've got to." A truth, covered just slightly in a lie. If anyone could see through it, though, it was Cor and Weskham. Or maybe Ignis and Gladio, but thankfully, neither of them were there at the moment.

Smiling gently, Weskham turned and glanced at Cor over his shoulder. "Now, Cor. Don't tease the poor lad about his feelings. It's certainly not his fault that he doesn't know what to do with them, is it?" He turned to Noctis again, as he grabbed a couple of spices from the spice rack. "When Prompto and Loqi finish their talk, do bring them in here, will you? Ravus as well. We've made enough soup for everyone, but we will be delivering the others theirs in their rooms, since they're resting. We will refrigerate yours, of course, but you'll need to bring them all in here for it."

Oh. Right. This whole thing with Prompto and Loqi connecting, or reconnecting, or whatever it was... that would mean that he probably had to spend time with Loqi, wouldn't it? With a thin-lipped expression on his face, he tried to ignore all the teasing and the implications about his relationship with Prompto, and glanced up at Weskham. Despite the red that probably showed his embarrassment like a beacon on his face, he nodded once and cleared his throat.

"Thanks," was all Noctis said, rather than delving into either things that he was nervous and concerned about.

Cor nodded, still grinning that knowing grin, and shooed Noctis toward the door. "Go on, Noct. We'll see you guys tomorrow."

Astrals, had it been a long day. From the hospital visits, to Crystal Space, to the quiet rides home, Weskham and Cor were probably just as tired as everyone else. Maybe even more, honestly. Their worlds had been just as flipped upside down by seeing Noctis' dad and Gladio's dad. It was easy to forget that sometimes. They probably wanted some alone time just as much as anyone else did. So, with a wave of parting. Noctis turned on his heel and started toward the door. The sun was right at the horizon now, and it had bathed the area around him in a bright orange glow. It reflected from the river, and Noctis thought that maybe he felt like drawing it when they turned in for the night. Now that he had the use of both hands back, he could probably draw properly again.

Shaking that thought off, because he had somewhere to be, he glanced back over his shoulder into the lounge, only to see that Cor was once again poring over the notebook that he'd been looking at before, and talking in hushed tones to Weskham. Noctis could very vaguely hear the tones of their voices through the door, but he couldn't even come close to hearing what they were saying. It didn't matter. He wasn't big on eavesdropping, anyway. He breathed in deeply, inhaling the clean, fresh, evening air, before turning toward Ravus and Loqi's cabin.

A light breeze blew his hair around, and it brought the tiniest smile to his face. Maybe, after everything was all said and done, he and Prompto could still go to the river. Prompto had earned a little bit of decompression time. It was a perfect night for it. There was a light chill in the air, which generally came with the start of autumn, and it would be the perfect night for him to take some pictures.

Noctis stopped in front of Ravus and Loqi's cabin, glancing up at the door at the top of the small staircase. Okay. He could do this. If Prompto and Loqi were still talking, it meant that he had to talk to Ravus alone for a little while, but that was okay. Ravus may have hated him, may have never liked him to _begin_ with, but ever since they'd showed up in Altissia, they'd seemed like very different people. So, with that thought in his mind, he raised his hand to lightly rap on the cabin door.

A few seconds passed, before Ravus answered. He looked exhausted. His hair was tied in a lazy bun, and his prosthetic wasn't even on. Noctis couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Ravus without it. Years ago. Maybe even a decade. His old prosthetic hadn't been like this new one. The new one seemed to respond almost like it was a real arm, which Noctis didn't exactly understand. Luna had explained it to be _kind_ of like how crystal cores made things work in Hour Twenty-Five, except that it worked all day long. The crystal probably needed to be replaced a lot, but _that_ kind of use for crystals was probably okay, right? Noctis figured that it was better than whatever Verstael had been doing.

"Caelum?" Ravus called, and it was only then that Noctis realized that he'd been staring.

With an embarrassed hiss, Noctis nodded his head. "Right. Sorry. Um... hey Ravus," he greeted.

Ravus tilted his head to the side and opened the door fully, letting Noctis into the cabin. "It's quite alright. I was telling you that Prompto and Loqi are still in the bathroom. I haven't heard much of anything for a little while, but the last time I knocked, Prompto told me that they were talking. So... if you're looking for Prompto, you're in for a slightly longer wait."

Noctis shrugged. "That's okay. I'll wait. If you don't mind me hanging around..." he answered, looking up at Ravus with a single-shouldered shrug.

It looked like Ravus wanted to object, but he didn't. Noctis wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but he walked further into the room, slid his hands into his pockets, and leaned against the wall near a window. Looking outside, he managed to catch sight of the kitchen lights going out, and the lights outside of the lounge going on. Turning to glance back at Ravus, Noctis watched as he walked back over to a desk near the bed, sat down, and picked a book up from the surface.

The quiet was almost like one of those cliché silences from a movie. It was incredibly awkward, and Noctis was very tentative to break it as he looked from Ravus and back to the window. Mostly because he genuinely had no idea what to say. Light streamed out into the mostly-dark room from beneath the bathroom door, and the movement of shadows across that light was the only sign that Loqi and Prompto were probably still in there. What were they talking about? Were they okay? It was completely and totally reasonable for them to want privacy, but Noctis _really_ wished that they would come out and cut some of this tension.

Ravus glanced up at Noctis over the top of his book and gave him an appraising expression. While Noctis understood, he also really hated scrutiny like this, and he subconsciously found himself shrinking back into the shadows a little bit further; making it a little bit tougher for Ravus to see him.

"Caelum," Ravus spoke again, "you have no need to be nervous around me. I'm fully aware of my past transgressions, but you can rest assured that I've no intent of repeating them. If a promise from me has ever meant anything to you, allow yourself to believe it now, please."

Shrugging, Noctis nodded his head. "I... yeah. I do believe it. I just..." He trailed off, unsure of how exactly to finish that sentence.

Ravus picked the slack up. "You simply are unsure about how much you can trust me, yes?" he asked. "While you and I don't exactly have any love lost between us, and while I betrayed your trust that night in Galdin Quay, you know that I am a very bad liar. That much has not changed. I like Prompto. He is a very kind person. Almost at Lunafreya's level of kindness. Perhaps equal to it. He managed to forgive both Loqi _and_ I, which is no small feat after what the pair of us put him through. With that in mind, you needn't worry about me ever allowing anything like what happened in Galdin Quay to happen again. Not to him, and not to you."

That was a surprise. More than a surprise, even. Noctis wasn't surprised when _Prompto_ was mentioned, because he had a way of worming his way into people's hearts, no matter how hard they tried to resist it. What _was_ surprising was that his own name was mentioned. He scratched a hand through his hair and shrugged his head to the side. "I believe you." Forgive? Absolutely not. Believe? Absolutely yes.

"Then why, exactly, are you acting as though you're terrified to be in my presence? I apologize for what happened to you that night. That, however, does not mean that you need to stand against the wall of my cabin like you expect me to berate you for sitting in a chair. Make yourself comfortable. Loqi has some bottled water in the mini-fridge, if you would like one."

Cordiality was absolutely expected, but this seemed to go beyond that. "Well..." Noctis started. "Can I ask you a question, then?" He was pushing his luck, probably. While Ravus had insisted that nothing like Galdin Quay would happen again, that didn't mean that they were going to be bosom buddies and have endless conversations long into the night. He half expected Ravus to say no.

It seemed like Ravus was taking a personal interest in squashing all of his expectations to the ground that night, though. "Ask," he simply said. The cordial tone of his conversation was gone, replaced with a little bit of suspicion.

Noctis had so many questions, but there was one in the forefront of his mind. He glanced toward the bathroom, and then over at Ravus. "You and Loqi... are you... are you a thing?" he asked, a little bit embarrassed at how he'd said it; how he'd put it like a teenager would, but it was literally how it entered his mind at the moment.

"A thing." Ravus actually managed to laugh a soft note at that. "It depends on how you define thing, Caelum. Are we... human beings? Absolutely. So, in that way, we're _living_ things. However, judging by that incredibly unsettling look presently making you look like the cat who caught the canary? I suspect that isn't what you were implying. If you were implying that you think we are dating, you are mistaken. We are simply very close friends. He tends to my prosthetic, I helped him escape Besithia. We're hardly dating; we're not the dating types. Leave things like that to you and Prompto."

Dating. Him and Prompto. Well, he guessed it was a reasonable conclusion to jump to. They kissed a lot. They spent all of their time together when they weren't working. Wasn't that what most people did when they were dating? Still, they'd never really pushed themselves down the road _into_ that label, so he just shook his head and looked at Ravus. "We're um... Prompto and me aren't dating," he countered.

Ravus looked almost shocked, as he shrugged his lips and tilted his head to the side. "So you understand my position with Loqi, then. And would understand my preference that you not jump to the conclusion that we're dating. Why were you even _asking_ that?" he asked, stretching the shoulder with no arm connected to it.

With a shrug, Noctis glanced back to the bathroom. "I'm just... I'm wondering why," he explained. "Why you're so close to him, you know? He's... he isn't exactly the easiest person to talk to. Isn't the easiest person to _like_. So, why are you-"

A soft chuckle escaped from Ravus' lips, and he shook his head no. "He absolutely isn't, you're correct. However, he's fully aware of that fact. He keeps it that way on purpose. Loqi is..." He paused, heaving a sigh and turning his eyes toward the bathroom door, too. "He isn't what he seems, Caelum. I'm aware that he puts forth an air of confidence and certainty in himself, but it's not... it isn't genuine. Especially not now." Heterochromic eyes looked back at Noctis, and he breathed in deeply before continuing. "Before we befriended one another, Loqi led a very lonely life. The only people he associated with on a normal basis were his-" Stopping short, he shook his head and glanced down at the ground- "were people who disliked him. Aurum and Highwind. Prompto. Even Besithia. He may seem like he's together, but most of the time, he's a string away from falling apart. All because of Besithia, I know now."

Noctis looked down at the floor. He understood that feeling, in a way. What he didn't understand was how Loqi let it turn him into what it had; someone who actively tried to make other people's lives miserable. Prompto. Noctis. Everyone he came into contact with, really. He looked back at Ravus. "So, you feel sorry for him?" he asked, a little surprised. It had always seemed like more than that.

"No. No, absolutely not. He's a remarkably intelligent person, and despite what he projects, he's very caring." Ravus nodded his head. "I just... he needed me. I needed him, and he needed me, and we sort of... lucked into our friendship. Sometimes, I suspect that I saved him from some very dark thoughts. Had he been forced into Besithia's servitude for much longer, I suspect that he'd have-" He stopped short, his eyebrows shooting upward, and his head turning quickly to look at Noctis. "I shouldn't have said any of that. Not to you..." he murmured.

It was too late, though. It was out there, and Noctis knew, probably, how it was going to end. Ravus suspected that he'd have acted on it. Noctis understood that. Not to that level, maybe, but he _had_ entertained thoughts like that before. Back when his world was crashing down, back when their family was breaking down and down until there were so few of them left around... he'd definitely understood Loqi's wish to make it stop. Never had Noctis really wanted to _act_ on it, and he never _would_ have acted on it, but... he looked up from the floor, meeting Ravus' eyes for the briefest second before looking back down at the floor again.

Finally, he spoke up. "I won't tell him," he assured Ravus.

Ravus was still watching him, though Noctis couldn't really tell what the look on his face meant. It was similar to Luna's expression when she was searching him for something in particular; like Ravus was _somehow_ onto him, and the fact that he'd had similar thoughts to the ones that Ravus had mentioned Loqi having, but that wasn't possible, was it? Ravus didn't really know him. No matter how long they'd known each other, they'd never been close enough for Ravus to know what he was thinking from an expression.

Still, the appraising eyes had Noctis turning his eyes to the floor again. To the floor, to the bathroom door, then out the window. Anything but look at Ravus right then, and see the way that Ravus was looking back at him. He swallowed nervously, glancing back up and hoping that the expression had passed. It had, only instead of going away completely, it had changed to one of realization. Concern, even. Ravus knew. How did he know? Noctis had no idea how he knew, but the fact that he knew was bad enough on its own. If Ravus knew, he'd tell Luna, wouldn't he? And if _Luna_ knew, she'd tell Ignis, who would probably want to tell Cor and Weskham...

He opened his mouth to tell Ravus that it was no big deal; that the feeling was old and had passed a long time ago. Before he got a chance to say anything, though, the bathroom door creaked open and Loqi appeared in front of him. His eyes were red and puffy, full of emotion, and from behind him, he could see that Prompto's expression was much the same. They didn't look _sad_ anymore, though. They didn't look happy, but it was closer to normal than Noctis had ever expected them to be.

"Are you okay?" Noctis called out.

Loqi squinted against the darkness, adjusting from the light of the bathroom that now poured out into the room and illuminated a small cone that only encompassed the bed and a small area around it. "Caelum? Where's Rae?"

With a grunt, Ravus stood. "Over here, Lo," he answered.

After a couple of seconds trying to catch sight of Ravus, Loqi grunted in annoyance and groped around on the wall next to the door for the light switch. Flipping the light on, he turned to look at Ravus, finally. Annoyance etched even further into his expression, and he huffed, "I told you not to remove your arm by yourself, Rae. It's always-"

"It's not that hard, Lo. I can-"

"Not the point!" Loqi countered, annoyed. "I have to check it over to see how easily it connects and disconnects every time, and see if I need to make tweaks, remember?" He turned to look at Prompto. "Sorry, Prompto. I... I need to look at Rae's arm. But we're still on for that shopping trip in Lestallum tomorrow, right? Buy you some more new clothes, because you should honestly _never_ be allowed to dress yourself." Loqi turned to Noctis. "Seriously. Who told you to allow him to choose his own clothes? Blue with neon green? Yellow with teal? You both need a lesson in Colors 101. And you're supposed to be artists?"

With wide eyes, Noctis looked Loqi over. He was being snarky, but it wasn't his usual snark at all. There was very limited anger in it. Behind him, Prompto managed another tiny, soft smile as he placed a hand on Loqi's shoulder. "Yeah, we're still on for tomorrow," he said to his brother, before stepping past him and approaching Noctis.

Noctis wasn't sure what was more surprising: the fact that Loqi smiled at Prompto, or the fact that he actually hadn't provoked Noctis at all. It didn't matter. Noctis didn't provoke him, either. If he really _did_ want to be Prompto's brother, Noctis wouldn't stop him. As long as he didn't hurt Prompto.

Prompto walked up in front of him, placing the same hand that had just been on Loqi's shoulder on Noctis' shoulder. The touch was a little different; a little more tender and lingering, and he smiled a gentle smile as he met Noctis' eyes. "You ready to turn in for the night?"

"Actually," Noctis shrugged, "we're supposed to go to the lounge for dinner. Wesk and Cor made green soup curry."

Excitement flashed across Loqi's face. "Green soup curry?!" he asked eagerly. "Rae, do you want me to put your arm back on or-"

Ravus laughed softly. "I can eat soup with one arm, Loqi," he reassured Loqi, with an uncharacteristically tender expression on his face. "Though, I'm curious to see if the four of us can get through a meal without bloodshed..." Despite his words, he was smiling at Noctis now.

As unsure as Noctis was about what was going on, while the four of them left Loqi and Ravus' cabin with Prompto and Loqi talking like they'd been friends for a lifetime, it was impossible to really call it a bad thing. Prompto was happy, Loqi sounded like an actual decent person, and he and Ravus had made it through a conversation without fighting. That _definitely_ wasn't a bad thing. In spite of himself, Noctis smiled. Maybe Loqi really _was_ an okay guy, underneath it all. If it was this important to Prompto, he'd be more than happy to give the guy a chance to prove it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff coming up! Hope you're ready!


	19. Confidence

"I can't remember the last time I shopped with my own money," Loqi admitted as they walked through one of the clothing boutiques in Lestallum.

They weren't nearly as nice as the ones in Altissia were, and the selection wasn't even as close to as expansive, but it also wasn't even as close to as _expensive_ either. Loqi and Prompto walked through the racks, while Noctis and Ravus went to get them lunch, and Prompto couldn't help but be a little surprised by exactly how good his brother was at picking out clothing. It made sense. Loqi was really fashionable. He had always been right on top of the latest trends, while Prompto usually just stuck to baseball t-shirts and jeans with hoodies. He'd insisted that they buy Prompto a whole new wardrobe all over again, during which time Loqi would teach him what matched and what didn't.

Prompto watched as Loqi filed through a rack, different items of clothing on each arm. On one arm, he had several different pairs of jeans of all different colors, in Prompto's size. On the other arm, he had just as many pairs of jeans in his own size. Prompto wasn't sure, really, if this was a shopping trip for him or for Loqi. It didn't matter. He was having a good time. That was what was important.

Shrugging a shoulder and smiling at the face Loqi made when he took a pair of dark green pants from the rack and looked them over, Prompto took a couple of steps down the rack on the other side and started looking at patterned pants. "You've always had your own money, though, haven't you? Like... why didn't you do it for yourself? It always feels kinda better, doesn't it?"

At first, Loqi just looked at him like he had two heads, before plucking a pair of black jeans from the rack. "I mean, maybe to you," he commented with a shrug of his head. "But there's something kinda... rewarding, I guess? About when a guy looks at you and decides that you're worth all his hard-earned cash. It's been a little while since anyone other than Rae has done that for me, though." He glanced over the top of the rack at what Prompto was holding in his hand.

Two seconds passed, and he shook his head adamantly. "Prompto. No. _Please_ don't buy plaid pants. We are not from the punk pop era, and you are not trying to look like a goth. Caelum does that enough for the both of you. Put the pants down." He pointed a finger that was attached to an armful of pants at Prompto sternly.

"You don't think it'd go well with that black shirt I have? I thought I'd wear it when Noct and I come back out here and-"

Loqi's face was genuinely offended. "And what, look like you're the front men to an emo band? _Please_ , Prompto. It's bad enough that every single solitary thing Caelum owns in his wardrobe is black. You've got to represent the color in the relationship or else someone's gonna send you to either the Institute for the Criminally Emo or Fashion Jail. I'm not sure which. Maybe one of you to each," he muttered, thrusting the finger that he had pointed forward again. "I'm serious. The pants. Back on the rack. Or else I stage an intervention."

It was hard not to laugh at how impassioned Loqi was about this, but Prompto slid the pants onto the rack, putting his hands up to concede. "I didn't think that my fashion sense was _that_ bad," he remarked, standing on his tip toes and trying to get a good look at what Loqi had in his arms.

With a shake of his head, Loqi admitted, "individually, the things you buy aren't always that bad. But Prompto. Someone has _got_ to teach you how to match, okay? Because cobalt blue does _not_ go with green. And that yellow shirt with the red pants that I caught you wearing the other day? Not even _ironically_ Prompto. Not even ironically," he mused, before walking around the rack as a whole and stopping in front of Prompto.

"In fact, we should keep you away from the patterned pants entirely. You know what? Come on, let's move on to sweaters." With the same hand that held a dozen pairs of pants, he grabbed Prompto's arm and practically dragged him across the store, toward the sweaters.

Prompto arched an eyebrow. "Sweaters? It's still... it's still hot out, Loqi, do I really need sweaters?" he asked.

Sighing dramatically, Loqi nodded his head. " _Yes you need sweaters._ Sweaters are only half for keeping warm. They're half because you're super skinny and small and you don't _look_ so skinny and small when you're in a bulky sweater." He paused. "You know what? Don't complain, alright? You're getting some much needed fashion advice, which means that what I _really_ need you to do is to go to the front of the store and get me a cart, because I'm starting to have a hard time carrying all of this."

That finally made Prompto manage a laugh. Starting to have a hard time. Prompto smiled at Loqi and shook his head in amusement, before mock-saluting Loqi and turning around to jog to the front of the store and grab a cart.

After two steps, though, Prompto was overcome with a really weird feeling. It was a feeling that he'd felt before, a long time ago. Familiar and unpleasant, like someone on the outside of his vision was watching him. It was nerve wracking, but when he cast his eyes around the store, he shook it off. Everyone in the store, even everyone _outside_ of the store, was going about their normal business. People walked by, absorbed in their conversations, and people inside were going through the racks of clothing and holding them up to their chests or legs, trying to get a vague idea of how it would look... no one in here was watching them.

Prompto shook it off, gathering one of the larger carts at the front of the store and making his way back to where Loqi waited. Again, as he got a little bit closer to Loqi, the same feeling came over him. Like he was being watched. His eyes found Loqi, who was hanging clothes off the rack as he piled more on the top of what he'd already collected, and that chased the thought from his mind, replacing it with a soft laugh.

It really did feel good to be brothers. He hurried across the rest of the distance, pulling the cart up beside Loqi.

When he got into hearing range, a soft laugh bubbled up when he saw Loqi going through what he'd already collected. "Prompto. Me. Prompto, definitely. Me. Me. Please... I wish I had the legs for this… so, Prompto. Rae. That probably means I should pick something for Caelum, too. Might be a chance to introduce him to color. Think he'd flip?" he asked himself, smirking as he turned back to the rack. "Caelum's eyes are blue, so a blue belt or maybe a blue scarf. Wouldn't want to _overwhelm_ the idiot with too much color, would I?"

Again, Prompto laughed softly as he tapped Loqi on the shoulder. "I think Noct _does_ have some color in his wardrobe, for what it's worth," he pointed out as he slid the cart up in front of Loqi.

"Yeah, gray doesn't count, Prompto," Loqi mused as he grabbed all the clothes he'd grabbed so far and put them into the cart. "Think he'd like a scarf or a belt better? 'Cause he needs to realize that there are more than neutral colors to work with." He paused, gently pushing Prompto out of the way and walking up to the rack behind him to gather a black tank top from it. Turning Prompto around where he stood, he held the shirt up to Prompto's chest, shrugged his lip, and nodded. "It'll do," he decided, tossing the shirt into the cart.

Prompto looked at the shirt, and some of the other clothes that Loqi had chosen, blinking his eyes in amazement. "This is... a lot. I mean, I can afford it and everything, but how much is it gonna-"

Smiling gently, Loqi shook his head. "Don't worry about it this time, okay? It's on me," he said, patting Prompto on the shoulder and then grabbing hold of the cart. "And come with me. We're going for accessories, and you can help me pick something for Caelum. Since he's your boyfriend and everything." That was accompanied by a derisive snort, as he grabbed hold of another shirt on the way by.

For a couple of seconds, Prompto's eyes went wide, then he shook his head. "Noctis isn't my boyfriend. We're just friends," he insisted. If wishing made it so, though... "Are you sure you wanna pay for all this?" He gestured toward the cart.

Loqi turned on his heel and looked at Prompto incredulously. "Wait, really? 'Cause I've caught you guys making out around the compound no fewer than a dozen times. And then there was the time at the hospital. And you guys room together, so I just assumed that you were dating, not just fucking," he pointed out, waving his hand dismissively. He'd completely ignored Prompto's question about paying. "Not that I particularly wanna _think_ about that, but... I assumed." He stopped in front of a giant wall filled with accessories, and immediately started grabbing things from the wall.

"N-no. No, um... Noct and I aren't... w-we're not. He's not my boyfriend," Prompto insisted, feeling heat rise to his cheeks as he turned to look down at the ground. "I mean... we aren't, you know... having s-sex, either."

When Loqi looked at him next, it was almost like he had two heads, or some other weird deformity, and Prompto realized that it was probably foreign to him. One of the few things that Prompto knew about Loqi was the fact that he slept around a lot. A lot of the guys their age from Hammerhead—at least the ones who _liked_ guys—talked about how they'd slept with Loqi. How it was just a one nighter or something, and how 'good' he was. Then, they went on to make fun of Loqi, too. And Prompto, but that didn't really matter much. It was weird to Prompto, sure, but at the very least, it was something that he could say that he knew about his brother. For a long time, he'd defended Loqi, until he gave up hope on the pair of them ever having a relationship like they did now.

Loqi took a couple of steps forward and looked at Prompto. "Well, do you want to?" he asked.

The red in Prompto's cheeks deepened, and he turned to look down at the floor. Did he want to? Well, yeah. Of course he did. He never had before, both because he wasn't sure anyone would ever _want_ to be with him, and because he had never really gathered up the confidence to talk to anyone. Even now, with the confidence that he _had_ built... it still wasn't enough to just take it a step further with Noctis when they were making out or something. The thought had crossed his mind, several times. Hell, he'd even _dreamed_ about it a couple of times. He'd never done it, though.

"Hey," Loqi tapped him on the cheek. "Do you want to?"

Swallowing nervously, Prompto shrugged his head to the side and glanced up to meet Loqi's eye. "I mean... y-yeah. I love him. I want to. Of... of course I want to..." he muttered, in a voice barely above a whisper.

For a second, Loqi made a face when Prompto mentioned the word love, but he turned back to Prompto with an inquisitive expression. "Why don't you, then? I mean, it's obvious that he's fucking sickeningly crazy about you. The way he stares at you when you aren't looking? He's hopeless. You're meaning to tell me that _he_ hasn't put the moves on _you_ either?" After a second, Loqi made a dramatic shuddering motion and then added, "can't believe I'm willingly talking about you and Caelum fucking. Ew," with a curl of his lip.

Prompto was a little bit worried that his cheeks might melt off, from how embarrassed he was feeling, but he tried to play it at least a _little_ bit cool. "I... I dunno. Because what if he _doesn't_ want to? Then I'll have made an idiot out of myself and probably ruined my relationship with someone I love. S-so..." he clamped down hard on his lower lip.

"Do you want me to say something to him for you?" Loqi asked, taking another couple of shirts from the rack.

That made Prompto's eyes shoot open, and he shook his head no, adamantly refusing the offer. "N-no! No, please! Please don't tell him, Loqi, okay? You can't. Y-you can't tell him _any_ of this! Okay?" He was pretty sure that a couple of people nearby were staring at them, either the subject matter or the volume of Prompto's voice catching their attention, but he didn't care right then. Loqi _couldn't_ say anything.

Loqi put his hands in the air. "Okay! Alright, jeez, Prompto," he snorted. "I don't get it. Don't wanna tell him, don't want _me_ to tell him... are you sure you wanna fuck him? Believe me, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. It's... it's _Caelum_ , after all." Again, he curled his lip dramatically.

Prompto nodded. "I do. I _really_ do. I just... I never..." Again, the heat of embarrassment threatened to melt Prompto's face off. "I haven't. You know?" He wouldn't meet Loqi's eye. Instead, he looked at the floor, the wall, the clothes in the cart... anything but look at his brother's face after confessing that he was a virgin. A virgin who was in love with, and desperately wanted to have sex with, his best friend.

"Oh." The surprise on Loqi's face was almost just as surprising to Prompto as the fact that they were having this whole conversation to begin with. Loqi looked at him, in equal parts surprise and understanding, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's... that's probably partially my fault, huh? Didn't make it any easier on you. You know, the way I always..." He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. They both knew where he was going with it.

As much as Prompto wanted to tell him that he was wrong, though... he wasn't. It was partially his fault. Swallowing nervously, he shrugged a shoulder and sighed. "At the same time, it's not. 'C-cause dad. Besithia," he corrected, wincing. "So... yeah." He looked up, forcing himself to meet Loqi's eye again and let his brother know that he meant what he had just said. "But... I haven't. I'm... I've never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or anything, either..." That confession was met with more nervous shame, and still, the part of him that remembered how tentative this relationship with Loqi was half expected Loqi to make fun of him.

He didn't, though. Instead, Loqi clapped a hand against his shoulder and shrugged his head to the side. "Most everyone on the compound is pretty sure that you and Caelum are hiding a secret relationship from us," he pointed out, with an eye roll.

Prompto's eyes widened. "N-no. We aren't." It was as simple as that. Whatever they were, they weren't actually _dating_. "We have a date, but we're not... you know. Dating."

Loqi's eyes sparkled mischievously as he turned back to the wall. "You have a date, which means that you need something to wear that will knock Caelum on his flat ass," he settled on. "Leave it to me. I'll have that idiot begging you to be his boyfriend, or at _least_ to let him fuck you, before the night is over." He smirked.

For a couple of seconds, Prompto considered stopping him. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, though. Would it _really_ be bad to take Noctis' breath away? Would it _really_ be bad to have Noctis look at him and want to drag him to bed? Or to have Noctis begging Prompto to be his boyfriend? No. None of those things would be bad. Not even a little bit.

"Hey, Loqi?" Prompto asked, busying himself with looking through another rack.

Loqi turned to look at him, then asked, "what's up?" before turning his attention to a nearby rack and making faces at several of the vests that he'd passed, before finally settling on one. He picked it up and put it in the cart, then turned back to the accessory wall.

This was... a really awkward question, and Prompto wasn't even sure if he wanted to ask it. At the same time, though, he did. "This is... this is a really, really weird question and you can… you can totally ignore it if you don't wanna answer it, but... I'm curious about something." Especially from someone who had slept around a lot. "What was your first time like?" he asked.

"Ugh," Loqi rolled his eyes and turned to look at Prompto. "It was with some really hot douchebag from Altissia. One of those things that I was glad happened at the time, but now I sort of wish I had a better memory attached to it." He shrugged his head dismissively. "I've heard that if your first time is with someone you actually like, it's better, though. You'll have a better time with Caelum."

The fact that Loqi seemed so sure that his first time would be with Noctis was equal parts nice and embarrassing as _hell_. Prompto tried to focus on the better part of that, though, and then continued his thought process. "Is it different with Ravus, then?" he asked, glancing up from the rack to catch Loqi's expression when he answered.

When Loqi froze for a couple of seconds, turning to look up from the rack and catch Prompto's eyes with a stunned expression on his face, Prompto was worried that he'd somehow overstepped some unknown boundary. After a couple of seconds, Loqi just chuckled and answered, "I mean, me and Rae are different from you and Caelum in... a lot of ways. But yeah. Rae's... he's different from the other guys I fool around with. The only one I always find myself going back to."

"Would you say you like him?" Prompto asked.

Loqi chuckled softly. "Not in the same way you and Caelum like each other. We're... we're really different from you guys. Not the 'relationship' type," he murmured, then shook his head hard, turning his attention back to the accessory wall and puffing out a sharp breath. "They have so much good stuff here today. Their selections usually so... not like this, that's for damn sure."

It was an obvious attempt to change the subject. Prompto recognized it, because it was something that Noctis always did when they got into talking about his habit of blaming everything in the world on himself. Just like he did with Noctis, he let it go, with an internal promise to himself to bring things back up again later. The friendship that the two of them shared was still too new, and he didn't want to push his luck. Instead, he busied himself with watching Loqi pull accessories from the wall.

At first, it didn't look like there was any rhyme or reason to his selection process. After a little while, though, Prompto realized that maybe there was. He would look back to the cart for a couple of seconds, then turn around, select something from the wall, and then turn back. He was choosing things that went with outfits. A complete method to what otherwise looked like madness. He chose belts, ties, shoes, scarves, even a couple of hats. Prompto considered telling Loqi that there weren't really that many hats that looked good on him, but honestly, it looked like Loqi was really sure of himself.

"I didn't know you knew so much about fashion," Prompto murmured, approaching the accessory shelf and looking at a couple of things that caught his eye. Namely, a knit chocobo scarf that Loqi would probably think was stupid—so he simply ran his fingers along it rather than picking it up from the wall—and a pair of sunglasses that could clip onto glasses, and just so happened to be the right size to clip onto _Prompto's_ glasses.

Before he even realized what was happening, Loqi had reached onto the shelf and grabbed both things. "It's something I've always found fun, y'know? Something that I sort of mixed in with all the things father—Besithia—made me do. Because he couldn't complain if I looked good when I was doing what he wanted me to do. He'd yell at me sometimes," he admitted. "Asked me why I was wasting my money on clothes when there were much more _useful_ things that I could do with it. But, it was something that I always kept for me. And now, I have such a huge collection of clothes... my hand-me-downs could probably clothe you for a year, without repeating outfits."

Prompto chuckled softly. "And I'd probably fit into them, too. Wonder if that was in our genetic whatever..." he murmured. "I was chubby as a kid, but as soon as I got older, I thinned out a lot. And now I can't put on weight even if I try. Like... y-you see what Iggy and Weskham cook on the compound. I eat a lot now, and I still..." He looked down at his stomach.

With a shrug, Loqi grabbed a couple of scarves and put them into the cart, then answered in a quiet tone. "Probably. It's something I should look into, if I can get Scientia to let me use his research area. I've got lab equipment. It's some stuff that Besithia left behind for me, you know? Stuff for me to take my own blood, but I don't think it'd take a lot of work for me to get more advanced equipment. Stuff to look at our DNA and see what he made us for." He paused and looked at Prompto. "I probably should, actually."

"Why?" Prompto asked.

Again, Loqi shrugged. "I wanna check for genetic issues. Things that might be a problem later on down the road when we get older," he explained. "Who knows what nasty secrets he gave us?" There was equal parts hate and exasperation in his tone when he said that.

It mostly worried Prompto, though. Genetic surprises. That sounded... really bad. What if their dad had built them with some kind of disease, or some kind of fail-safe that he could activate to kill them if they started getting too independent? It was something that Prompto hadn't thought of before, but now that he had, he was simply staring down at his feet, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Loqi seemed to catch on, and he put his hand on Prompto's shoulder. "Hey," he started, shaking Prompto's shoulder and then smiling softly. "Don't worry about it, alright? There's probably nothing. If there is, I'll see what I can do to take care of it. You're the one who seems convinced I'm a genius, right?" He put what he had in his hands into the cart, grabbed another charm with a moogle on it and placed it into the cart with a murmur of, "Tiny Amicitia likes moogles, right?" before turning to Prompto again. "You trust me, don't you?"

The funny thing was, any time before today, the answer to that question would have been a loud and resounding no. Now, though... now? Yeah. He did trust Loqi. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe the whole thing would end up blowing up in his face. For now, though, he was more than willing to put his trust in Loqi. He was more than willing to actually _be_ family with his older brother.

Smiling sheepishly, he answered, "yeah. I do."

Loqi's return smile was softer than Prompto expected. "Good," he said. "Then... let's head to the dressing rooms and try some of this stuff on."

As Prompto smiled and followed Loqi's lead, he marveled at how far they'd come and how close they'd gotten in such a short time. Never would he have imagined that after just a few days of deciding to be friends; just a few days spent where Loqi didn't actively hate him or want him to fall off the face of Eos, they'd be spending time together, shopping, hanging out like friends. In fact, just a few days ago, Prompto had been all but certain that no matter what he did, Loqi would hate him for the rest of their lives. Maybe he _was_ foolish to put his trust in Loqi so readily, but at this point, it was harder not to.

When he was about five feet from the changing rooms, Prompto was taken off guard by that same feeling as he'd had moments ago; the feeling that someone was watching him. Watching _them_. He couldn't identify exactly where it was coming from, but he felt it. Boy did he feel it, stronger than last time. His eyes darted around the store, and he was surprised to see that everyone inside was acting just as normal as they'd been before.

Was it one of those things where people would spy, and then the second someone turned around, they were acting natural like nothing was happening? Those kinds of things always showed up in movies. They happened in reality, too, didn't they?

Or it was more likely that he was just being paranoid, so he just approached Loqi with a gentle smile on his face and glanced down at the cart, where his brother was separating all of the clothes inside into outfits, and on sides. Everything was meticulously chosen, like he'd selected something to start with as a base and then built from there, and Prompto couldn't help but smile even wider as he looked it all over. The feeling that they were being watched was suddenly the furthest thing from his mind, and in its place was a strong admiration for the skill his brother had at selecting and matching clothes.

"Here," Loqi motioned at the side of the cart closer to Prompto. "I know all of this stuff fits me, and I know it'll look great, so I don't need to worry about that at all. What I want _you_ to do, is try all of these on, and come out once you've tried on each outfit." He motioned to the fitting room. "I'll know if I need to make little changes then."

Prompto couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. "Alright..." he murmured quietly. He was hard to find good clothes for, though. Prompto felt like his body was awkward. Too skinny, and everything he wore made him look even skinnier. In fact, as he walked into the changing room and stripped down into his boxers, before picking up the first outfit that Loqi had chosen, he realized that he had never even told Loqi his size.

Still, as he tugged on the clothing that Loqi had chosen, he was stunned to see that it all fit. Not only did it _fit_ , but it fit _perfectly_. The shirt hugged his body in ways that he couldn't remember a shirt having hugged his body before, and the button-up vest that Loqi had chosen to go over it didn't even look as weird as Prompto had thought it would. The jeans made it look like he _actually_ had a butt. The accessories; a simple leather bracelet and a bandana tied to the upper part of his arm, managed to perfectly compliment the rest of the outfit and... while Prompto always thought that his clothes looked _okay_? Nothing he'd ever worn looked _good_ like this did.

Prompto turned around, looking himself over in the mirror from front to back, and then back to front again, before letting out a soft breath through his nose. Well... he thought he looked good. It all really came down to what Loqi thought. If _Loqi_ thought he looked good. He pushed the door to the dressing room open and flashed Loqi a nervous smile.

"What do you think?" he asked.

The smirk that Loqi wore in that moment almost looked _proud_. Whether he was proud of his work, or proud of Prompto, Prompto couldn't be sure. But, when he said, "I think you look great. Better than in most of that mismatched stuff you usually wear," Prompto had his answer.

Prompto wasn't sure if his clothes were really _mismatched_ , but if Loqi thought that what he was wearing right then looked good, then he couldn't complain. Loqi always seemed to match, and he was a pretty harsh critic, so Prompto was pleased. He looked down at himself, then turned to look at his reflection through the open door of the changing room. He smiled. As much as he knew that he was the same person, he _looked_ like a different person. And he _felt_ good about it.

When he was admiring the boots that Loqi chose for him, he heard a pair of familiar voices coming from the front of the store, and turned to look at Noctis and Ravus as they walked into the store.

Loqi hissed in annoyance. "Shit. Get back in there! That's what you're gonna wear for your big date, and Caelum can't see it! It's fine if he sees the other stuff we picked out, but that has to stay secret," he insisted. "So... in there. And if you really wanna knock him dead? Pick the outfit with the faded skinny jeans—the blue ones, not the black ones—and the red plaid button down shirt. Leave the button down open and put the black tank that hugs your stomach underneath it. Go, go! They haven't seen us yet!" He pushed lightly on Prompto's shoulders, guiding him into the fitting room.

While a tiny bit of Prompto was reminded of all the times that Loqi had locked him into the closet, and it brought a flash of panic up as soon as Loqi hip-checked the door closed, it was easily dispelled when he heard Noctis' voice growing ever closer. A reminder that he wasn't that scared little kid anymore, and Loqi wasn't that mean and scary bully anymore. He looked around for the outfit that Loqi had told him about, and made quick work of getting dressed.

Outside the door, he could hear Loqi and Ravus talking about what they'd chosen for lunch. Prompto looked at his reflection again as he pulled the scarf that Loqi had wrapped around that outfit over his shoulders. Again, it looked good. And it was comfortable. Loqi really _was_ good at this.

This time, he felt even more nervous about it, because not only was Loqi waiting out there, but _Noctis_ was there this time. Noctis wouldn't be mean. Of course he wouldn't. Still, as Prompto looked himself over, he couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. Sucking in a sharp breath, he turned toward the door, opened it, and stepped out.

Ravus was the first person he saw. The man's white hair stuck out in a crowd, after all. Loqi was latched onto him, very much belying the statement he'd made earlier, about his relationship with Ravus being different to Prompto and Noctis', but Prompto didn't point that out. Instead, he noticed how Loqi's gaze was transfixed on Noctis.

Noctis, it appeared, had looked up from his phone when the door opened. The way he looked at Prompto... it made Prompto's heart flutter in his chest. From head to toe, like people always seemed to do on TV when they were taken off guard by someone's appearance. There was something different in his eyes, though. Like, while he was shocked? It was a good shock. The tiny little smile that crossed his face when he met Prompto's eyes again made Prompto's breath hitch a little bit. Did that mean that he liked it? Nerves prevented Prompto from asking outright, but it seemed like he didn't need to.

"You look... incredible," Noctis murmured.

With a wry grin, Loqi nodded. "I agree. Now. Take all that other stuff and put it in the cart, because I'm about a hundred and ten percent sure it all fits. Leave that outfit on, but take the tags off, because you're wearing that out of here. And the four of _us_ are gonna picnic on the outlook. So, let's go pay."

The way Loqi took charge of the situation should have bothered Prompto. Should have, but didn't. Mostly because the way Noctis stared at him as Loqi busied himself with tearing the tags from what Prompto had on made it hard to be bothered by anything. He'd managed to take Noctis' breath away. With Loqi's help... he'd literally managed to reduce Noctis to just staring with a grin on his face. Maybe Loqi was right. Maybe... maybe Noctis _did_ want him, too.

Despite the light dusting of pink on his cheeks, it was hard to do anything but smile as the four of them made their way up to the register together. Maybe, on their date, Prompto would be brave enough to finally tell Noctis how he really felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wanted it, you got it! Dumb shopping babies.
> 
> Writing these dumb brothers has gotten more and more fun as things go on!!


	20. Discovery

Being back out on the field, hunting again, felt way better than Noctis would have ever imagined it to. He felt like he could actually fight anything that came his way, even if his sword felt a little bit heavier than usual in his sore wrist. It didn't matter though. Not even a little bit. He was getting tired of being sidelined every night while he waited for a recovery that might not ever fully come. Except now, as he was sitting with Prompto at the haven nearest where their job for the night was, he honestly felt better than he had in ages. Prompto sat a couple of feet to his left, going over some of the pictures he'd taken while the pair of them were with Ravus and Loqi in town the day before, and he kept smiling, pointing out how far he and Loqi had come—how close they'd gotten to being actual brothers—in such a short time.

After the shopping trip, Noctis had to admit, he had never expected to see this side of Loqi. Loqi actually seemed to care about Prompto. He'd paid for every single article of clothing that Prompto had gotten yesterday, and even offered Noctis a blue belt with a black fastener as a 'peace offering.' The gesture was nice enough that Noctis was actually wearing the belt right then. It was obvious that Noctis and Loqi still didn't really _like_ each other. Prompto, on the other hand, was the most important person in Noctis' life. Loqi would end up feeling the same way before too long. It was impossible to be around Prompto, to see that smile, and _not_ let him become the most important person to you. Being nice to Loqi was a small price to pay to see that smile on Prompto's face.

Noctis watched him, his face contorting into a smile. Yeah, he should always be happy like this.

A few feet away from them, Carbuncle and Bahamut already sat ready to follow them to where this hunt was going to show up. It was weird, seeing the two aeons interacting like they could understand each other. Carbuncle stood in front of Bahamut, a tiny presence in front of the dragon's gigantic one, and ran in circles in front of the dragon's head, and it was almost like the dragon was smiling at it. It was _almost_ like they were playing.

Playing, but ready to move at the first sign that their summoners were ready to move. It was almost time. They had about fifteen minutes before they _really_ had to get on the road. Apparently, it was a pack of hobgoblins that liked to show up a few minutes before Hour Twenty-Five, and they were close enough to the chocobo post a few meters down the road that it was a serious problem. It was almost eleven now, and Noctis was already anxiously anticipating their first hunt alone again.

He wasn't anxious enough to let the fun they'd been having for the past few hours go ignored, though. Prompto's smile was more than enough to make any day seem perfect, and Prompto had done plenty of smiling earlier.

Thinking back on that day, the day that they'd spent at the chocobo farm, made Noctis smile even wider. He'd never known Prompto to love chocobos as much as he did, but the second they stepped out of the car and onto the farm to take the job from the guy who owned the chocobo farm, it was obvious. Prompto's expression lit up like a fireworks display, and while Noctis talked to the man who owned the place, Prompto immediately rushed over to the chocobos and busied himself with petting them, hugging their necks, and feeding them from the feed dishes in front of them. Noctis was willing to bet that the end of his camera roll was _all_ chocobo pictures.

It was good, though. Prompto needed more things in the world to make him happy like that. Maybe Noctis would talk to Weskham and Cor about getting a couple of chocobos for the compound. It wasn't like they didn't have the room. The compound was huge, and they had plenty of time during the day to care for the birds. If it would make Prompto happy, Noctis would pay for them both from his own pocket.

"Look," Prompto called his attention from his left. "I got one of you with that prize racing chocobo! She likes you!" He slid a little bit closer to Noctis, displaying the camera and smirking.

Noctis turned his head to glance down at the camera, barely biting back a laugh at his own expense. He hated how he looked in pictures, honestly, but it was hard to be mad about this one. The chocobo was leaning into his hug, and Noctis was smiling with his whole face. It was one of those things that only Prompto ever seemed to capture. A moment that he found special, something that Noctis did that caught his attention somehow, and he just took a picture. That was pretty amazing, how good he was with his camera. Noctis couldn't help but smile a little bit, even if it _was_ just his own reflection that he was looking at. It bugged him a lot less, looking at the way that Prompto seemed to see him.

With a gentle chuckle, Noctis turned his head from the camera and back up to Prompto. "You always seem to get my good side, Prom."

Prompto shrugged a shoulder, sliding a little bit closer to Noctis where they sat. "I don't think you have a bad side," he commented gently, his tone a quiet whisper into the silence that composed the area around them.

The way he said that and the way he was looking at Noctis made Noctis' stomach flutter with butterflies. He closed the remaining distance between them, capturing Prompto's chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling turning it toward him, and drawing him a little bit closer for a lazy kiss. "You don't either," he muttered against Prompto's lips. "Or a bad lighting. Or a bad anything. You're perfect the way you are." _And I love you,_ his mind added. It should have been easy just to say the words aloud. Why wasn't it easy?

In the way that Prompto smiled back at him, though, Noctis got the impression that maybe he didn't care so much about hearing those words. He should have. And he should have wanted to be with someone who was less afraid to _say_ them. Not that they were even really _together_ , which was once again caused by Noctis cowardice, but that was neither here nor there. Prompto moved a little bit closer, kissing Noctis again—a little bit slower this time, and a little bit more tenderly—and suddenly, Noctis wasn't glad at _all_ that they were out on a hunt.

For the time being, they had nowhere else to be, though, so it wasn't like it was a _completely_ horrible idea to get a little bit of making out done while they waited.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, though, he caught sight of Carbuncle and Bahamut watching them. Just... staring at them. At first, he didn't let it bother him. He just tugged Prompto a little bit closer until he was half-sprawled on Noctis' lap, resting in a reclined position against Noctis' thigh, and kissed him again. Prompto's hand found his hair, his hand found the nape of Prompto's neck, and the only sounds that filled the area were a couple of crickets in the distance, a couple of saberteeth howling from even further away, and the sound of their rhythmic breathing.

Every single kiss felt just as good as the last one. Better, even. He'd heard the phrase 'just as good as the first time' thrown around casually when it came to things like kissing and sex and whatever else, but he'd never understood them before now. It still felt the same, every time Prompto's lips touched his. Every time their hands touched, or every time _any_ bare piece of skin touched. It felt like the first time, every time. Sometimes better, because now, Prompto had practice. Prompto had learned just the way to brush his tongue against Noctis' to make the rest of the world blur into nothingness. Prompto had learned just the way to touch Noctis' hair, or his face, or his chest, to wind him up tighter than a spring. Noctis had absolutely lost count of the number of times, after they found themselves interrupted by one thing or another, when he'd needed 'alone time' to be a functional human being again.

Tonight, Prompto was using each and every one of those tricks. Prompto's hand was wound into Noctis' hair, not tugging, just tangled tightly into Noctis' hair, resting against the back of his head and holding him in kissing position. Prompto's tongue was definitely brushing against Noctis' in the way Noctis loved. And _Astrals_ did he wish that they could be alone for just a little bit longer.

Yeah, he hated that they had to hunt. And he hated that, in another brief moment when he managed to catch a glimpse of the area across from them, he spotted Carbuncle and Bahamut, still staring. He pulled back from the kiss, smiling sheepishly at Prompto when he did, and brushing a wayward strand of hair from Prompto's eyes.

"So, I'm pretty sure I hate everything right now, because for one, my alarm is about to go off and tell us that we have to leave." Noctis still didn't move Prompto from his lap, but instead, leaned in to steal another brief kiss. "and for two... um... we're being watched." He nodded his head in the direction of their two aeons, his smile going a little bit lopsided.

Prompto's eyes sprang wide open, and he turned his head to glance over at Carbuncle and Bahamut with a gasp. "O-oh. Um... sorry Carby. Sorry, Bahamut, I..."

Noctis watched as the deep pink flush spread across Prompto's cheeks, and was unable to keep from smiling a little bit wider. It was funny. He both cared that they were being watched, and didn't care at all. He wanted more of this, honestly. Maybe it would spur him to do more things like this when they were safe at home. When they _didn't_ have somewhere to be in… _now_ , Noctis realized, as his phone alarm started going off in his pocket. He laughed a sheepish note and watched as Prompto sat up straight. Admittedly, he was feeling a little bit embarrassed, especially because of the fact that his pants were fitting a little bit tighter than usual, but he tried to ignore it. Standing up, he adjusted them just slightly so that it didn't show, and then reached a hand down to help Prompto up.

When Prompto stood and adjusted his pants, too, Noctis felt a triumphant smirk cross his face. Okay. So, maybe he was crazy, but... did that mean that Prompto wanted him, too? Swallowing a nervous lump that had formed in his throat, he didn't immediately let go of Prompto's hand. Instead, he tugged just slightly on his arm, pulling him in close and stealing another slow, lazy, kiss.

"Bookmark?" Noctis asked once the kiss broke.

The way Prompto nodded eagerly made the smirk grow just slightly. "Bookmark," he answered, kissing Noctis one last time, before he pulled his phone out to look at it. "So, this is near that cave, right? A group of hobgoblins?"

Noctis nodded, lamenting the loss of physical contact for a couple more seconds and then pulling in a breath in an attempt to get his mind back on track. "Yeah. About five or so of them, which should be pretty much nothing with these guys helping out." He pointed over his shoulder at their aeons, who had taken to the air now that they saw their summoners on their feet. Again, Carbuncle was on Bahamut's head, and the pair of them were hovering just slightly over Noctis' head.

As they walked, Prompto started checking his pistols over; making sure he had ammo, making sure they were ready to fight... all things they probably should have been doing when they were too busy making out. It should have probably made Noctis feel ashamed, but he really didn't care. He liked kissing Prompto. Prompto liked kissing him. That was what was important. He pulled his sword from his belt, expanding it with a flick of his wrist as they walked, and smiling happily at the fact that he _could_ flick his wrist again. It felt really good to be himself again; to be able to function without pain.

The spot they were supposed to wait at was several yards away from Fociaugh Hollow, an eerie cave that had dozens of stronger daemons inside of it, and while Noctis was pretty sure that one day, they'd have to go in and clear the place out, he had _no_ desire to go in there that day. The two of them were a damn good hunting team, but he was pretty sure that Prompto had no desire to go into any caves either. Especially not with his last experience in the mines. So, the pair of them waited behind a group of trees, keeping lookout in either direction for any sign of daemons.

It didn't take _too_ long for it to show up. In a mess of purple mist and goop, the first daemons showed themselves. To start, it was just a pair of hobgoblins, who danced around and taunted them. Before they could even react, Carbuncle had blasted one with a beam of light and Bahamut had smashed the other in its talons.

Noctis couldn't help but laugh a soft note at the sight. Bahamut was so strong. No matter how many times he'd seen the dragon do its thing, it was always impressive. Just as he and Prompto were high-fiving—though maybe they hadn't really earned the high five, since the job so far had been accomplished by their aeons instead of by them—a strange feeling came over Noctis, though. It was almost like they were being watched. Like someone on the horizon was staring at them, and since it was dark, Noctis couldn't see them. He tried squinting against the darkness once his hand fell to his side again, but all he could see was more blackness, up until the daemon lights that protected the streets. Again, he cast his eyes around, until he felt Prompto place a hand on his shoulder.

"Noct?" Prompto questioned. "You okay?"

Noctis looked around again, then let his eyes settle on Prompto. "I'm… y-yeah, I'm okay." It was nothing. Wasn't it? It had to be.

Whoever—or whatever—it was, they had distracted Noctis enough for him to miss the purple mist and goo that signified the arrival of more daemons. When Prompto shouted out to warn him, awareness swept back over him like a wave, but it wasn't quick enough to keep him from getting a hard slash across the arm from the daemon's horn.

The pain took him by surprise, but that paled in comparison to the surprise when he looked at the daemon next. It watched, cross eyed, as Noctis' blood dripped down its horn and impacted with the scaly skin of its head, and a sick and twisted grin crossed its face. The smirk was almost human, except for the crooked and gnashed teeth inside of the daemon's mouth as it smiled viciously at him. Seconds later… it was almost like someone had stuck a steroid needle into it or something. The daemon moved faster, jumped farther, and before Noctis even realized what was happening, it was barreling at him with blinding speed.

If he hadn't jumped to the side, he would have been impaled with the daemon's horn. As it stood, it smashed into a nearby rock, before staggering and falling to the ground. Bahamut took the chance, swooping down and gathering the monster into its talons, holding it in place for Carbuncle to blast it with a beam of light. Prompto simply stared, his eyes on Noctis' arm where blood seeped through his dark gray shirt. His sleeve and his glove kept it from hitting the ground, but it was still...

Noctis found himself wondering if this had to do with what Besithia was trying to research, with blood full of darkness making daemons stronger. It wouldn't surprise him if his blood was full of darkness. He wasn't exactly the happiest person. A part of him wanted to test it, but the rest of him absolutely _didn't_ want to test it. He readied his sword, deflecting a hobgoblin that took the moment of distraction as a chance to attack and watching as Carbuncle shot out a dome of light, dissipating the creature into darkness. Two down, two more to go.

Putting his concerns out of his mind, he glanced at Prompto, the pair of them exchanged a nod, and Prompto aimed and fired at the hobgoblin closest to them. Carbuncle and Bahamut took the cue, Bahamut flying in a spiral over their heads and Carbuncle firing a beam of light at the daemon that Prompto had disoriented. One more down.

Except, once again, Noctis was overcome with a feeling that he was being watched. For a second, he allowed himself to pass it off as Prompto watching him. Sometimes, Prompto would do that when he thought Noctis wasn't looking. When he glanced over at Prompto, though, he saw his friend still singularly focused on the battle before them, and put that thought out of his mind. Of _course_ , Prompto wasn't looking at him right then. As he glanced at Prompto, though, he caught sight of a glint of something. A sword, maybe. Or a piece of metal armor. _Something_ in the distance, that turned away from the skirmish and headed toward the entrance to Fociaugh Hollow.

Two instincts warred in his mind. The first was to ignore it, to continue fighting the daemons and not leave Prompto on his own. The second, though, remembered what happened the last time the pair of them fought off daemons on their own—but with an extra person that they didn't know if they could trust—and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to find out who this person was and what they wanted.

Well, he wasn't going to leave Prompto's side while the pair of them still had daemons to take out. That was for sure. Noctis turned back to the daemons, casting aside caution and rushing forward at the closest one, plunging his sword into its shoulder and holding it still for Carbuncle to take care of. Either Prompto didn't see the attack at first, or Carbuncle didn't know what Noctis expected, because nothing happened for long enough for the daemon's gnashed and broken teeth to come into contact with Noctis' forearm. It bit hard, breaking through his skin like it was nothing, and while Noctis tried to get it to release his arm, he immediately identified the moment that his blood hit its system.

The daemon's eyes dilated like someone had just fed it a meal consisting solely of caffeine. It screeched, biting Noctis' arm a little bit higher and then releasing, thrusting out with its fist and knocking him back to the ground at Prompto's feet. Noctis' sword was still in its shoulder, but Noctis being knocked back as he had managed to catch Carbuncle's attention and the fox shot forward an orb of light, which impacted with the crazed daemon and exploded into a _larger_ orb of light to take out the daemons closest to it.

It looked like the area was mostly clear. All of the hobgoblins they'd been fighting were gone, at least. There was still the matter of the person, or whatever it was, that had slinked off into the Hollow. Noctis wanted to chase them, but all he could do was sit on the ground, staring at the daemon bite mark on his arm and blinking. As soon as his blood had hit the creature's mouth... it had went insane. Did that mean that... no. No, it _couldn't_ mean that. Could it?

"Are you okay?" Prompto asked.

Noctis shook the thought off and glanced at his friend, who had appeared at his side to help him up. A hand reached down for the arm not covered in daemon bites, and concerned eyes looked down at him through glasses that had fallen just slightly down the bridge of his nose. Noctis accepted his hand, allowing Prompto to pull him up from the ground, and then he glanced over at his arm. The bites weren't as bad as the ones he'd taken outside of Hammerhead when he and Prompto had first met, but a few of them were, obviously, deep enough to draw blood. The cut on his bicep was a little bit worse, but nothing worthy of stitches.

What was concerning _Noctis_ the most at the moment... was the wonder about his blood in relation to the daemons, and the worry about who the hell ever was in the Hollow. Whoever was watching them. He turned to glance at Prompto, then looked over at the entrance of the hollow, sucking in a slow breath.

Brushing grass from his pants, Noctis nodded, before glancing toward a pack of distant daemons who were heading _away_ from the chocobo farm; away from Noctis and Prompto, too, and another pack that were wandering around right on the other side of the road. Daemon lights blocked those daemons from getting to them easily, so those were dismissed as a non-issue, as were the ones that were moving away from the pair.

So, Noctis finally answered, "yeah. I'm... I'm fine." Seconds later, he realized how untrue that was, though, and he looked toward the entrance to the Hollow again. "I saw something, though. A few minutes ago. Not sure what it was; whether it was a daemon or a person or _what_ , but they headed into the Hollow, and..." He clamped down hard on his lower lip. "We're really close to Hour Twenty-Five."

"We should save them, then, shouldn't we?" Prompto asked, turning to look over his shoulder toward the cave's entrance.

Should they? Probably. "Yeah. It's probably not too bad in there yet, so... all we've gotta do is get in and out, right?" No need to call the others. There were probably so many daemons in the deeper part of the cavern that the person couldn't have gotten far, anyway. Noctis looked up at Bahamut, and then back at Prompto again. "Are you sure, though? Last time you were in a cave, or a mine, I guess-"

Prompto, once again showing his endless bravery, shook his head no. "If I let that stop me every time, I'd never be able to save anyone. Right?" A tiny smile crossed his face, though his eyes were still lined with worry.

Noctis, uncaring of where they were or what time it was, reached out with the arm not covered with blood and pulled Prompto to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "You're amazing. Have I told you that yet today?" Even if he had, it was something that could always use repeating. "Way braver than you give yourself credit for." And braver, every day he had to deal with this stuff.

With a bashful smile, Prompto kissed Noctis again and shrugged his head to the side. "I'm a hunter. It's what I do," he pointed out.

That was a stark contrast to what he'd said to Noctis months ago, and it genuinely showed Noctis how far Prompto had come. How much stronger, how much more amazing he was than he'd always been. And Prompto had _always_ been pretty freaking amazing, so... for him to go from amazing to _more_ amazing? Well, that was pretty amazing, too. Later, Noctis would tell Prompto exactly how proud he was to have been there to watch as he _became_ this incredibly brave person. For now, though, Noctis released him from the embrace, picked his sword up from the ground where it had fallen out of the daemon after Carbuncle took it down, and then glanced over toward the Hollow.

Slowly, the pair of them crept toward the mouth of the cave, their aeons behind them. Carbuncle had taken to riding on Bahamut's back all the time now, and it was equal parts amusing and directly reflective of Prompto and Noctis and how they were always together. They neared the Hollow, and Bahamut touched down. Noctis took a flashlight, powered to work in Twenty-Five, from his pocket and flashed it into the mouth.

"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone in there?"

Prompto was a couple of steps behind him, and Carbuncle skipped a few steps forward, putting out a bright field of light that lit up the whole cavern. In fact, when it lit the area, Noctis watched as a group of daemons shot backward to escape it. The tiny fox responded by widening the range of the light dome, allowing Noctis, Prompto, _and_ Bahamut to be encompassed in it. It was a little bit weird, honestly, seeing daemons so scared and staying outside of a circular range made by a tiny fox. Noctis looked around in the light offered by Carbuncle's glow, for any sign of what might have caused that glint.

Nothing, it seemed, was obvious. He turned to glance over his shoulder at Prompto, who seemed transfixed on a few daemons on the edge of Carbuncle's light, breathed a puff of breath. "Do you see it, Noct?"

Noctis shook his head though. "I don't. And I... don't really wanna go too far in here, just in case-"

As if time was taunting him and reading his mind at the same time, Hour Twenty-Five shifted into place. The atmosphere in the Hollow changed, and while Carbuncle and its dome of light stayed in place, the daemons outside of it got angry. Furious. A single ice bomb tried to attack, lunging into the dome and making Noctis shoot back several steps to get away from the attack. It dissipated in the light Carbuncle projected, but Noctis stumbled, falling backward and hitting the ground on his backside. "Shit," he hissed, annoyed.

Prompto rushed up to him, reaching a hand down to help him up. "We... we should get out of here, Noct. I don't think... maybe it was just a daemon you saw. An iron giant would glint silver, wouldn't it?"

It was true, of course. A giant _would_ glimmer silver. Noctis nodded, accepting Prompto's hand and allowing his best friend to pick him up _again_. As he stood up straight, once again, that feeling of being watched came over him. It was stronger than before. Like whatever was watching them was _really_ close. Though he _wanted_ to listen to Prompto, he _wanted_ to leave... if someone or something was watching them, would they be safe when they left?

Noctis squinted into the darkness again, desperately trying to see what was in the distance, but when nothing appeared in his vision, he made a frustrated grunting noise and nodded his head. Yeah. Okay, it was time to go. If he stayed here and tried to find what was watching them, he'd probably get them hurt even worse.

Walking backward toward the exit and scanning the area desperately, trying to find _some_ sign of what might've been watching them, Noctis was taken _completely_ off guard when, from behind them, the thundering steps of an Iron Giant _did_ step toward the mouth of the Hollow. Shit. _Shit_. They needed to get the hell out of there, _immediately_. "Prompto, we-"

Prompto didn't need to be told twice. Carbuncle blasted out with its dome of light, making all of the daemons in the cave and the Giant behind them stumble. It bought them all—Prompto, Noctis, and Carbuncle—enough time to get out of the cave and up onto Bahamut's back. Outside of the cave, the dragon took to the air and Noctis couldn't help but puff out a slow and steadying breath as his mind tried to catch up to the situation. Again, he'd almost gotten them into some pretty big trouble. The Giant was back on its feet again, and some of the daemons were making their way out of the cave in an attempt to catch up with Prompto and Noctis... and he'd realized that because of his impulsiveness, he'd made the problem outside of the chocobo farm go from bad to worse.

Carbuncle leaped from Bahamut's back, firing a giant orb at the daemon closest to it again, and making it explode into dust. The orb exploded, too, and took out several of the smaller daemons that had made it out of the cave, and leaving only the giant and a small group of larger daemons. That was still worse than a small pack of hobgoblins, but more manageable now, he hoped.

"Should we?" Noctis asked.

Prompto nodded. "We attracted them. We should take care of them before they-"

With a nod, Noctis finished, "hurt the people and the chocobos. Yeah."

Bahamut landed several feet away, and the pair dismounted the dragon's back, quickly taking to fighting off the daemons they'd attracted to the area. The smaller ones were easier. They were already weakened by the blast of light from Carbuncle. The Giant, though, posed a way bigger problem.

Noctis immediately went on the offensive, dashing forward toward the monstrous creature while Bahamut swooped in from above, spitting that purple mist like a rain over the giant's head. While the Giant was taken aback, it swung wildly, trying to tear the mist from its body. It was incapable of _grabbing_ the mist, but it still swung, flailing its arm around frantically and managing to catch Noctis with its sword in the side. It was just a minor nick—once again, he was lucky as _hell_ tonight, because he was pretty sure that a sword that big could easily lop his arm off—but it was enough.

He could _see_ his blood on the end of the giant's sword. He watched it drip down, watched a droplet fly from the giant's sword and hit the giant in the face.

And then... it happened again.

Like his blood was made of some kind of massive daemon steroid, the monster started moving faster, striking harder. It struck the ground in front of Noctis' feet and sent him to the ground. A few feet behind him, he saw Prompto struggling to stay on his feet, too. Noctis scrambled up quickly, looking up at the daemon with wide eyes. It stomped forward, reaching out in a motion quicker than a creature that size should have been allowed to take, and grabbed Noctis in its hand. He tried to dive out of the way, but didn't make it in time, and before he could even think about what was happening, he was hanging upside down by his ankle, over the daemon's head, like it was going to try and devour him for more of his blood.

Panic. He flailed, trying to free himself from the daemon's grasp, and he heard Prompto shout out a desperate and angry plea for the deamon to "let him _go_ ," before firing a shot that echoed out into the night. Carbuncle attacked, and Bahamut did too. Even Noctis swung out with his sword, catching the daemon in the head with the tip in his desperation. The daemon bellowed a growl, dropping Noctis unceremoniously to the ground.

Prompto rushed over, standing underneath where Noctis would have landed and softening the blow for him so that he didn't just crash to the ground. They fell, in a tangled mess of limbs and breathlessness, and when Noctis rolled off of Prompto and onto his back, he saw Carbuncle and Bahamut attacking in tandem.

How neither of the aeons had disappeared with their lack of focus was a miracle that Noctis didn't understand, but wouldn't complain about. Carbuncle's light and Bahamut's purple mist completely surrounded the daemon, making it bellow another growl out into the darkness as it finally exploded into a giant mass of daemon smoke.

While the whole area wasn't clear yet... they were in the clear for now. Except for the fact that, once again, Noctis felt like they were being watched. Even as the daemon disappeared, Noctis pulled himself to his knees and cast his eyes around frantically. No one. He couldn't see _anyone_ other than Prompto, who was pushing himself up into a seated position and looking at Noctis with worried eyes as he adjusted his glasses on his face again. "Noct?"

"I..." Noctis stammered, looking around one last time, trying _desperately_ to find a sign of who was watching them. When nothing came, he turned his attention back to Prompto again. "I keep thinking I see someone watching us..." he murmured as he pulled himself to his feet.

Noctis reached his hand down, taking Prompto's and pulling him to his feet, then watching as Bahamut and Carbuncle fluttered back to their side. "I'm not sure where it's coming from, but I keep thinking I see it and..." And... he wasn't sure if he even wanted to bring up the _rest_ of what was bothering him. Prompto knew, of course, that Besithia had a sample of his blood. Did he know—did he _want or need_ to know—that Noctis might have been to his father, what he wasn't?

Was there any need to worry Prompto, if he wasn't even sure if it was true?

A hand rose and clasped his shoulder, and suddenly, Prompto was doing what Noctis recalled doing several times. He craned his neck, putting himself right in Noctis' field of vision, shaking his shoulder gently, too. "And?" he urged.

"And I..." Noctis looked out around them, almost _hoping_ for a daemon to provide him with an excuse not to tell Prompto any of this. "And I think... I might be... I might be the darkness."

Prompto just stared at him for a second, before it clicked into place and then he shook his head frantically. "No. No way you're darkness, Noct. No _way_. I mean... look at what you did for me! You saved my life and... and you helped me find who I am, and you always make me happy and take care of me when I need you, and..." He stepped forward, taking Noctis' hand and looking at the daemon bites on his arm, then the slash on his bicep.

It was sweet, but... "yeah, but look at what happened when my blood touched those daemons, Prom..." he murmured, swallowing a lump in his throat when he glanced down at his side, just below his rib cage, where the giant's sword had slashed. "And how they, you know, seemed to go for me after they got a little bit of my blood. Like they wanted more. Usually, daemons are... they're pretty indiscriminate with who they attack. These ones ignored you, pretty much, as soon as one of them got a taste of my blood."

Now that he was thinking about it, it always seemed to be that way. Even back when his dad was alive. Whenever he bled on the battlefield, daemons always seemed to flock to him. At the time, it had seemed advantageous, because it gave everyone else the chance to attack when the daemons weren't paying attention, but right now? Right now it wasn't. Especially not since Besithia seemed to be _looking_ for ways to make daemons stronger like that. The man already had a vial of Noctis' blood. What if he was what Besithia needed? Of course, he'd wished for a way to take Prompto's place, so he was genuinely glad that it was _him_ and not _Prompto_ who might have been dealing with this, but he didn't want to deal with it either.

The thought process swirling his mind around was snapped by Prompto's voice, when he murmured, "we should tell Iggy, shouldn't we?" as he examined the cut on Noctis' side.

"No!" Noctis shook his head frantically. "No. No, um... Iggy doesn't... Specs just found his way back to normal, right? So we don't... we shouldn't put him back into research mode when we don't even know if it's real. If it's true."

Prompto blinked. "What... what should we do, then? You can't-"

Noctis raised a hand, placing it gently on Prompto's cheek and turning his face so that he was looking Noctis in the eye. "Don't tell Specs, okay?" he asked. "Please? Keep it between us for now." A part of Noctis felt guilty, because he'd just promised Ignis not too long ago that he wouldn't keep secrets like this anymore, but at the same time, he stood by the fact that he didn't want his old friend to worry.

Worry still lined Prompto's eyes, and he reached both of his hands up, putting one on each side of Noctis' face and pulling him in for a desperate kiss. "Are you sure?" he asked when they broke for air, as he leaned his forehead against Noctis'.

The answer wasn't an easy one. Noctis swallowed thickly, then closed his eyes for a second, opening them again and nodding his head once. "Yeah," he murmured. "For now, let's... let's forget that this happened, okay? And we can, you know... just go about things like normal. I'll be more careful on hunts, and no one has to know. Okay? You promise?"

Uncertainty joined the worry in Prompto's eyes now, as he nodded his head glumly. It didn't look like he wanted to agree, but at the same time, it looked like he understood the position that Noctis was coming from, so when he opened his eyes again, he met Noctis' eyes and brushed his thumb across Noctis' cheek. "If you promise me that you'll be really, really careful on hunts. Let me protect you for a change, okay? Instead of you always rushing to protect me. Can you promise me that?" Despite his worry, his lips curled into a tiny, half-hearted smile.

It would be hard to ignore those instincts, admittedly, but Noctis nodded his head all the same. "I promise."

Prompto didn't say anything else. He simply wrapped his arm around Noctis and pulled him in close for another kiss. Gentle, but one that Noctis felt from his head to his toes. When they parted, in a breathless voice, Prompto said, "let's get out of here, okay? I want to be out of here..."

That, Noctis could agree to with no problem. So, without any further hesitation, he called Bahamut to his side. Whether or not he was darkness... Besithia would have to do better than he'd done _so_ far to get Noctis to break and willingly help him out. There was absolutely no chance in _hell_ of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got another filler chapter, before the big date! But it's coming!


	21. Stillness

Noctis seemed so sure that he was the darkness that Bestihia wanted. Prompto didn't want to think about it, honestly. It didn't seem possible for someone as incredible, as _amazing_ , as Noctis was to be made of darkness. Then again, at the same time and in a different way, it did.

Not because Prompto thought that Noctis was actually a dark-minded individual. Far from it, actually. He was kind and gentle and affectionate, and he always took care of Prompto, no matter what Prompto was going through. But he was just so hard on himself. He took all of his pain and internalized it; put it all inside and blamed himself for everything that ever went wrong. Awhile ago, he'd even told Prompto that he used to feel alone when he was in a room full of people. That wasn't something that just went away because someone like _Prompto_ had shown up in his life. Though, if Prompto could make it go away for him, he'd have done it in half a heartbeat.

In Prompto's mind, Noctis didn't deserve pain. He didn't deserve loneliness or anything that made him feel badly enough to think that he was made of darkness.

The worst part about the whole situation, maybe, was the fact that Prompto was at the compound without Noctis today. Noctis had gone to Hunter HQ with Luna, Loqi, and Ravus to update the other hunters on what hotspots the group had cleared lately. The update wasn't as good as any of them wanted it to be, because no matter _what_ hotspots they cleared, no matter how many daemons they killed, they seemed to reappear and double. It had gotten to the point that most of Lucis had instituted a curfew, which meant that people had to be back within city limits and under the protection of daemon lights at least two hours before sundown. It was hurting businesses, hurting transportation, because while people could stay in the safety of the daemon lights, they were still helpless when Hour Twenty-Five rolled around.

Countless people around bigger cities had died. Lestallum had a death tally of about thirty over the past week, because people didn't want to listen to the curfew. It was sad. It was _really_ sad. In fact, the only reason that the city was still functioning was because it was a trade center for all of Lucis.

They were still functioning, and refusing to give up to the point that they were still holding their Harvest Festival. The festival was something of a street carnival; endless stalls of food, a whole bunch of spooky movies playing in the Lestallum theater, music in the streets, rides, games... everything that made a good festival. Prompto had never been before. He'd always _wanted_ to, but he'd always been too afraid. Too nervous to be out in a big group of people like that, when he got nervous and stuttered around people he _did_ know.

When Noctis had suggested the day before that they go there for their date, though, Prompto had leapt at the chance. Not only would it be easier because he was with Noctis, but he wasn't the same person anymore that he was even a couple of months ago. He could talk to people without panic. Walking through crowded streets didn't bother him. Being the center of attention was still nerve wracking, but for Noctis, he'd manage. For Noctis, it would all be worth it.

Today, though, with Noctis gone, he was left behind with Ignis and Iris. The very second Prompto had made passing mention of having a date with Noctis, Iris had wanted to go on a baking spree "to celebrate." Well, that and the fact that Loqi had mentioned in passing that he had a serious sweet tooth. Ignis was feeling like his normal self again, so he'd agreed to help. It had resulted in a trip to the markets in Lestallum, where Ignis, Iris, and Prompto had bought way too many of every single ingredient that Weskham had in his recipe book.

It was hard, not talking about Noctis' theory about being darkness. It was _really_ hard. If there was anyone who would know for sure, it was Ignis. Still, Prompto had promised not to talk about that, so he sucked it up and smiled as he looked over the festival's website. His eyes settled on the advertisement for the street dance, and the smile on his face grew as he imagined himself dancing with Noctis, bodies pressed tight together as they swayed together with the music. It would be perfect. It would be perfect because it was theirs. And maybe, in a moment like that, Prompto could finally be brave enough to tell Noctis how deep he was in love.

"I think the pastries are about done, Iggy! Time to see what he did!" Iris' voice dragged his attention from his thought process, but he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

The kitchen counter was littered with baked goods. Lemon cookies, pie made of every single fruit that Prompto could even think of, sweet potato fries, chocolate chip muffins, apple fritters, and in the oven was a batch these odd tarts that Ignis created the recipe for, with Ulwaat berries and honey. Noctis went wild for them, Ignis had said, and then insisted that Prompto be the one who made those. Throughout the whole thing, though, Ignis had been giving him step by step instructions. How much honey to add, how much sugar and how long to bake them for... Prompto had only really baked them through action. Realistically, it was Ignis' recipe and Ignis' orders.

Still, Iris seemed endlessly excited to see how they'd turned out, if the way she bounded toward the oven and pulled it open was any indication. "They look _so good_! Prompto, you have to come check this out!" she squealed. "You did awesome! Noct's gonna love 'em!" She beckoned him eagerly, not caring at all that he was in the middle of going through his camera.

Ignis had wanted to see the pictures from the Altissia trip, too, so Prompto was _trying_ to find the start to that set, but he had so much on there that it was proving more difficult than he expected. Ignoring a hyper Iris, though, was just as difficult. Maybe more. He pulled himself to his feet, smiling at the fact that his knee made no protest whatsoever, and handed the camera off to Ignis.

"I think that's near the beginning of the set," he told his friend. "Most of what else is there are just things that I've seen around Lucis, and some daemons that Noct asked me to take pictures of so he could draw them." He ticked his shoulder up in a shrug and headed toward the oven, where Iris was dancing happily as she lifted the tray of pastries from the oven.

Prompto caught sight of them, and allowed himself the tiniest of smiles. Okay. So, it was Ignis telling him exactly what to do and exactly how much of A, B, and C to put into the bowl. All the same, there was something really rewarding about seeing the finished product before his eyes. They looked just like they did in the picture that Ignis had shown him. He knew, of course, that looks weren't everything when it came to cooking, baking, anything like that really. Something could look amazing and taste awful—which was usually the case when Prompto tried to cook _anything_ , really—but if Ignis was telling him what he was supposed to do, it was hard to imagine that they'd be anything but great.

Iris beamed at him. "They look _just_ like Iggy's picture, Prom! Noct's gonna love these!" she told him, moving to set them on the counter. She paused, a combination between a smile and an annoyed scowl crossing her face when she realized that there was very little room to put _anything_ on the counter.

"I would say that we're in need of a little bit more space, wouldn't you?" Ignis asked Iris with a soft smile.

Shrugging her shoulders, she took a muffin from the tin and then pushed the tin down, setting the tray of pastries between them. "Just means we've gotta eat more." She took a hopping step closer to Ignis, placing the muffin on the table in front of him. "You could use some more chocolate in your diet anyway, Igs. To go along with all that coffee you drink." She beamed, poking him in the shoulder as she turned around to go back to the counter. "And you!" she turned toward Prompto. "You need to eat more _anyway_. Aranea calls you Skinny all the time and she's totally not kidding at all." She put a muffin in his hand and then took another one for herself.

Prompto chuckled softly. "What about the pastries I made?" he asked her, looking at the pastries on the counter. He couldn't deny that he was a little bit curious about how they'd come out.

"You can't eat those yet, dummy! For one? Too hot. You'll burn yourself. For two, save 'em for when Noct gets back!" Iris nodded excitedly, tugging a tiny piece from the top of the muffin that she'd gotten for herself and popping it into her mouth. "You two can eat 'em together and plan more for that _date_ you're going on." When she said the word 'date,' she dragged it out and poked the bridge of Prompto's glasses, pushing them back up to the proper place on his nose.

It was... really difficult to keep the red from his cheeks when he looked from Iris to the muffin in his hand, then back to Iris. Part of him was glad to have told her, but with the way she was sort of teasing him about it, he felt a little bit embarrassed, too. Sighing a soft note, he shrugged his head to the side and leaned against the counter. "I think we've planned it as much as we can until we actually get there. All that's left is to wait," he explained as he peeled some of the paper back on the muffin and then ripped a tiny bit from the bottom. "That's okay, though. It's worth the wait." More than worth the wait, really.

Ignis smiled at Prompto as he looked up from where he'd been looking through the pictures on Prompto's camera. "It's nice to see you two happy," he offered, picking the muffin up from the table and taking a bite. "You're quite fond of Noctis, aren't you, Prompto?"

That almost made Prompto choke on the food in his mouth, and he turned his neck so sharply that he was almost afraid that he'd hurt himself or something. Swallowing nervously, he glanced slowly back down at the muffin in his hand, before turning back to look at Ignis. "I... I mean... y-yeah," he answered nervously. "He's... he's always there for me. You know? He knows what to say to make me feel better when I've had a bad day, and... and he always knows when I need to talk or when I just need to sit there in silence. It's... I don't know what I did to deserve someone like him, but I'll do it a million times over," he explained, glancing at the open spot in the muffin in his hand and then clamping down hard on his lower lip.

Iris was smiling again, as she tore a piece from her own muffin. "Well, for one, you _totally_ deserve him," she insisted. "In fact, I think he's lucky to have you. Not that we need to tell _him_ that. He knows it plenty." She smirked as she glanced over at Ignis. "Doesn't he, Iggy?" she asked him.

With a soft laugh, Ignis nodded his agreement. "Honestly, Iris, you're going to turn Prompto redder than one of the strawberries you put in that pie over there," he teased with a fond smile at Iris.

She didn't seem bothered, though. She just grinned a little bit wider and shrugged her head to the side. "I'm just saying," she offered, waving a hand in the air and dismissing Ignis' comment along with it. "You'd have to be blind not to notice how much time these two spend together. I'd be more surprised if Noctis _didn't_ realize how lucky he was. Not every day he lets someone in like he has for you, Prompto."

Prompto bit his lip. Not letting people in was another thing that could be chalked up to the darkness that Besithia saw in him. "Sometimes, I still kind of feel like I forced my way in. He always tells me that I didn't, but..." He shrugged a shoulder. "I... I want to make him happy, you know? Show him how grateful I am that he let me in, since you said it's so rare. And... and I..." No. No, he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Ignis and Iris _before_ he told Noctis, could he?

But why _couldn't_ he tell Noctis? Why was it so hard to say? It wasn't like he was lying, and it wasn't like he didn't at least _somewhat_ think that Noctis felt the same. Maybe not _exactly_ the same. Noctis probably didn't feel a love that made butterflies flutter around in his stomach every time they touched. And Noctis _definitely_ didn't feel like his heart was going to pound out of his chest every time they kissed. There was no way that Noctis was actually, really in _love_ with Prompto. That... that right there was why he couldn't say it.

"You?" Iris urged, her voice almost mockingly singsong. It was Iris, though. She wasn't actually mocking him.

Prompto's cheeks turned redder, and he turned and looked away from Iris, at the plate of pastries on the counter. He pulled in a sharp breath and let it out slowly. How hard was it to just say three little words? Especially since it was to Iris and Ignis, and not Noctis. It wasn't like they'd make him feel bad for it, right? And if he asked them not to, they wouldn't tell Noctis. Right? Swallowing anxiety, he puffed his chest out in an attempt to show bravery. Flicking his eyes from Ignis to Iris, then back to Ignis, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Frustration seeped in around the silence. Seriously, how hard was it to say? Love wasn't even a long word. Four letters, but more intimidating than any of the long words that he'd always stuttered and stumbled over.

It didn't help that Ignis and Iris were just looking at him expectantly, like they already knew what he was going to say, either. If they knew, then why did he have to say it? If they knew, there was literally no reason for them to make him say it, was there? Except, if he couldn't say it to them, then he'd never be able to say it to Noctis. And he wanted to. He _desperately_ wanted to let Noctis know how he felt.

So, to put himself on the right track, Prompto pulled in a slow and deep breath, then before he let it out, he murmured, "I love him," under his breath.

The grin on Ignis' face was one of pride as he slowly lifted himself from his chair and crutched across the floor to stop in front of Prompto. "I'd honestly have been more surprised if you said you didn't love him, at this point," he explained, placing a brace covered hand on Prompto's shoulder. "You two spend every waking moment together. If I had a gil for all of the times that I've walked around a corner on the compound to find the two of you kissing, I would be able to retire in luxury."

"And you're totally always thinking about each other, too. Like, neither of you makes any kind of decision anymore without thinking about how it'll affect the other one." Iris nodded as she tossed the paper from her muffin into the trash. "You're pretty much the best couple since Iggy and Gladdy and you aren't even a couple yet." She grinned over at Ignis.

Even with all of the praise and the fact that they were pointing out ways that they'd already figured things out, Prompto couldn't help the flood of heat that rose to his cheeks. With an embarrassed huff of laughter, he looked up at his friends and raked his teeth over his lower lip, before asking, "please don't tell him. I've loved him since... probably a month after I met him. But... I don't know if I'm ready to tell him yet." Mostly because of the fear, of the deep down gut-punching dread, that Noctis wouldn't feel the same way.

Ignis was the first one to speak up, as he shook his head no and smiled a comforting smile at Prompto. "We would never. Iris may like to play matchmaker, and she may be the biggest supporter of the two of you getting together, behind perhaps yourself, but I can assure you that she is most capable of discretion when it comes to things like this."

Iris nodded her head. "When Gladdy and Iggy were being dumb a few years ago, Noct and me were the only ones they told about how much they really wanted to be with each other. I mean, everyone _knew_ and everything, but they didn't tell anyone but me and Noct. We managed to keep it secret, no matter how hard it was to watch Gladdy with Ravus when we knew how much better Gladdy would be with Iggy." She rolled her eyes.

Better together, and now they were getting married. They'd been in love for years. It was honestly one of the sweetest, most romantic stories that Prompto had ever heard. He smiled softly at his friends, then nodded. "Thanks. If he finds out from anyone, I want him to find out from me. He deserves to find out from me," he admitted. "After everything he's done for me? Gods, I should have told him forever ago, but..."

"Nerves are a hell of a thing," Iris reassured him, hugging him excitedly. "Well, make sure when you do, I'm the first one you tell, okay? Or maybe Iggy, but _then_ me, definitely." She beamed. Walking up to the counter, she glanced at the tray with Prompto's pastries on them, then hummed to herself. "You know? I think I'm gonna bring these to the dining room table. Maybe you can get a can of Noct's favorite soda or something, and the two of you can have a romantic dessert thing!" Humming thoughtfully, she nodded to herself, before reaching underneath the tray to pick it up. "Noct likes orange and grape soda, but you knew that, probably, right?" she teased.

Prompto chuckled and walked over to the fridge. "Those and strawberry, yeah."

As Prompto stood with the fridge open, though, he heard a loud curse echoing through the kitchen in Iris' voice, quickly followed by the loud metallic clang of metal hitting the floor. It made him jump against his volition, and he quickly looked around the open fridge door, surprised to see Iris standing in the middle of the floor with the cookie sheet on the linoleum in front of her, and bunches of berry and puff pastry surrounding her feet. She looked around desperately, a fully distraught look on her face, before turning to look at Prompto.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I just tripped over a loose piece of linoleum that we keep meaning to fix and... and... I'm so sorry, Prompto! I ruined everything!"

With a shake of his head, Prompto hurried up beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling. "Hey, don't worry about it, Iris, okay? They're just pastries! We've got, like... two dozen more pastries around here, and I bet Noct will love those just as much as he'd like this." He tried to be comforting. Tried. He could see, though, on Iris' face, that it didn't exactly work.

Her lower lip trembled, and she was hugging herself with her right arm, before shaking her head no. "I... I'm just... it's been such a bad..." Every time she started speaking, she trailed off and shrugged Prompto's arm off. "I'm sorry, I..." When she _still_ couldn't finish her sentence, her face twisted into frustration and she burst out into tears, before rushing out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and out of the lounge entirely.

At first, Prompto considered going after her. Honestly, though, he wasn't sure what to say. Lately, Iris had been extremely emotional. She would get angry, get sad, get frustrated at the drop of a hat, disappear to cry, then come back in a better mood that seemed more forced than anything. Noctis had noticed it, too, and the pair of them had talked about what might have been wrong, but with Gladio and Ignis in repair, and the whole team on their feet, they couldn't imagine what it was. Prompto turned his eyes to Ignis. Of everyone on the compound, Ignis and Gladio probably knew her the best. She was, of course, one of Prompto's best friends, but that didn't mean that he knew what to do in situations like this. Ignis would. He always did.

When Ignis looked from the door to the lounge and back to Prompto, he heaved a soft and gentle sigh. "Prompto, would you mind terribly if I asked you to clean this up? I think I need to go and check on-"

Prompto shook his head. "Go ahead," he told Ignis. "I was gonna suggest that you go, anyway. Maybe bring her a brownie and some milk?" Before he moved to clean up the mess on the floor, he gathered a small plate and a glass. The glass filled with milk, he put a brownie on the plate, and then offered it out to Ignis.

Smiling, Ignis nodded his head. "Very thoughtful, Prompto. Iris always talks a little bit more openly with sweets in front of her." He squeezed Prompto's shoulder before accepting the brownie and the milk.

After a short goodbye, Ignis hobbled out of the room after Iris, leaving Prompto alone to clean up the mess. He sighed, crouching down to pick up the fallen cookie sheet, but then when he saw what was underneath, the sigh was replaced with the tiniest smile. There, under the cookie sheet, was a tiny pastry, mostly unharmed by the fall. The top was cracked a little bit, but other than that, it landed with the tiny metal pie tin it was in facing down, and it was completely clean. The plan wasn't _completely_ out the window. That, more than anything, coaxed a smile from Prompto.

Prompto picked it up, checked for dirt or any other kind of debris, and smiled when he found none. The pastry finished the trip to the dining room table, and Prompto turned around to clean up the mess on the kitchen floor. The cookie sheet went to the sink with the other dirty dishes, and Prompto swept, wiped, and mopped up the mess left behind by the spill. Hopefully Iris wasn't too upset about it. He'd have to chat with her later about it, he decided. It wasn't a big deal. Just a pastry.

The very second that Prompto reached into the refrigerator to gather a pair of strawberry sodas for himself and Noctis, he heard the sound of the door clicking open, then heard crickets outside, then heard the door clicking closed again. Prompto hurried to grab a spoon from the cupboard, then rushed out into the dining room to see Noctis looking over the pastry with a little smirk on his face. A smile that only widened when he lifted his head to look at Prompto.

"Iggy been baking?" Noctis asked.

Prompto shook his head. "Well," he paused, "yeah. He helped me with it. Told me what to do when I asked him what your favorite was and everything. S-so... but... if it's no good, it's totally my fault. Because Iggy gave me the recipe straight from his mouth but that doesn't mean that I didn't mess it up." He laughed a little, a soft note of amusement at his own expense, before walking up to the table and passing the spoon across to Noctis.

With a grin spreading across his face, Noctis reached across the table and accepted the spoon from Prompto. "For me, huh?"

Nodding, Prompto slid into a chair across from Noctis. "It's the only one, though. We had a bit of a tripping and falling accident and the rest of the pastries were collateral damage." Despite his casual tone, his eyes wandered toward the door where Iris had stormed out. Wherever Iggy was talking to her, he really hoped that she was doing better. That at _least_ she wasn't still mad at herself or anything.

Noctis shrugged. "Guess that just makes this one special," he muttered, glancing down at it and wiggling the spoon between his fingers. "Almost too special to eat, even." That was added with a chuckle as he flicked his eyes up to meet Prompto's eye.

"Almost?" Prompto asked.

Again, Noctis nodded. "Almost," he muttered, reaching his spoon down and breaking through the crust on top, filling the spoon with berries and looking it over with a smile. "Looks good."

Prompto watched with a mix of anticipation and lip-biting intrigue as Noctis brought the mess of berries and pastry top to his mouth and ate it slowly. It was stupid, and maybe a little bit weird, how his breath stuttered just slightly when Noctis dashed his tongue out to collect a bit of berry juice from his upper lip. It was eating. Food. Necessity for living. That sort of thing had never really sparked any kind of interest with him before. It was probably the flash of tongue, or maybe it was the way Noctis' lips curled into a little grin when he finished licking his lips. Either that or it was the way Noctis was watching his eyes as they kept traveling down to his lips. Whatever it was, it was new and strange and very interesting.

"How is it?" Prompto asked, his voice quiet.

Noctis nodded. "It's good," he answered, dipping his spoon back into the tiny pie tin and coming back up with another messy pile of berries and pastry crust. "Do you want to try it?"

Prompto shrugged his head to the side. "I made it for you, though..." he pointed out.

As he held the spoon across the table, Noctis half-smiled. "Come on. Try it," he offered. "I don't mind."

Being fed from someone else's spoon was something that Prompto had never imagined he'd be able to do, honestly. Not only because he was too nervous to talk to people before meeting Noctis, but because even if he had, he'd always been so sure that romantic things like this weren't meant for him; that no one would want to do them with him. Then there was Noctis. Noctis who broke down all of his walls. Noctis who always wanted to do things with Prompto that Prompto never thought he'd be able to do. Noctis who... Prompto was in love with.

So, with a little grin on his face, he accepted the bite from the spoon, pulling back from it slowly. Maybe too slowly, if the way Noctis was looking at him with a lopsided grin on his face was any indication. Heat flushed to Prompto's cheeks and he looked down at the table nervously, before peering bashfully back up at Noctis through a curtain of his hair. Much to his pleasant surprise... Noctis was smiling at him. Once again, proving how wonderful he was.

The pair of them shared a smile, as Prompto settled back down in his chair. "Not bad," he mused, before gathering his soda can and popping the top.

"It's perfect," Noctis mused, before taking a second bite. "Thanks, Prompto."

Perfect. As perfect as the smile spreading across Noctis' face. As perfect as the light did when it made Noctis' eyes twinkle. As perfect as the silence that surrounded them, and the fact that they didn't even need to fill it with anything. They just sat there, in silence, smiling at each other across the table. And everything was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... And into the 100k club I go once more. Why am I incapable of writing anything short? LMAO!
> 
> Next chapter is where the fun starts!


	22. Rendezvous (I)

The festival was like something out of a dream. Lestallum looked like a fantasy land, decorated with streamers of orange, red, and yellow. The tops of the light posts were decked with giant fabric-cut leaves that blew around every time a breeze blew through the town. The lamp posts were wrapped with twinkling white lights that, even in the middle of the day, were attention grabbers. In the town square, countless food stands—everything from sweet deep fried pies to potato chips and fries that were cut on the spot—made the whole area smell delicious. The overlook and Main Street cleared out to make way for all of the rides, the largest of which was a Ferris Wheel which was right at the center of the overlook.

Noctis and Prompto had already been on it once, and in a rare couple of seconds when Noctis had actually managed to stop kissing Prompto, they caught sight of the Disc of Cauthess in the distance. Noctis watched as Prompto snapped several pictures in the short time that they were stopped at the top, smiling at how happy he looked. He'd looked happy all night. Happy and _amazing_ in the outfit that Loqi had helped him pick. Whatever Noctis may have thought about Prompto's brother, if there was one thing he was good at, it was picking out clothes that complimented Prompto well. A blue t-shirt with a black button-down vest over it, blue pants a couple of shades lighter than the shirt—that caught Noctis' attention and had him staring at Prompto's ass several times over the course of the night—and a couple of black accessories. The blues complimented his eyes and the black vest was a perfect match. He looked beautiful. Perfect.

He always looked perfect. He just looked more perfect right then. So perfect that it was almost impossible for Noctis to keep his eyes and lips away.

It made Noctis' black jeans, black t-shirt, and black boots look lame in comparison, but Prompto never complained. Just like he never complained when Noctis would tangle their fingers together as they walked down the street for the hundred thousandth time. Just like he never complained when Noctis would stop him to kiss him. They'd been here for a few hours now, but they had the night off, so they had nowhere else to be. Noctis had even booked them a room at the Leville, so that they didn't have to leave that night. The whole night was just for them, and most of tomorrow, too.

If Noctis couldn't find a way to confess his love over all that time alone, then he didn't _deserve_ Prompto. Even if Loqi hadn't murmured that in his ear on their way to the car, Noctis would have realized it on his own. Most of him was terrified. Not of loving Prompto; that part came easy. Loving Prompto was as easy as breathing. It was _telling_ Prompto that was terrifying. Because telling him gave him the chance to say that he didn't feel the same. What they had now was amazing. If he confessed his love and it somehow ruined things? He'd never forgive himself.

Prompto deserved to know, though. Whether or not he felt the same way, he deserved to know that when Noctis looked at him, he saw everything. Everything that mattered. Everything that was important. He deserved to know that he was the first thing Noctis thought of in the morning, and the last thing Noctis thought of at night.

That settled it. Tonight was the night. Tonight, he'd say it. _Before_ they went to the movie theater at nightfall.

At the moment, they were sitting at the outlook, near a small parking lot which had been turned into a street dancing floor. The DJ was close by, playing the music that blared over the speakers all throughout the festival, and while the pair of them ate their fattening plate of shared deep fried zu tenders and fresh potato chips, Noctis noticed that Prompto kept staring out at the dancing area. Several groups danced together. Young kids, teenagers, people twice Prompto and Noctis' age, even. Prompto seemed completely enrapt as he watched them. It seemed like he was particularly drawn to a young couple, probably just about their age, who danced together happily. The woman spun when the man held his hand out and directed her, and then when they came back together, he dipped her so low that her curly red hair swept against the pavement. When he picked her back up, she giggled cheerfully, her hand on his chest, and then kissed him.

They were obviously in love. Just like Noctis was.

Turning his head again, he noticed that Prompto was looking at him and smiling. It was a gentle smile. Soft, but it lit his face up so brightly that even the lights that wrapped around the light posts should've been jealous. It was perfect. Prompto was perfect, flaws and all.

"I'm having a great time," Prompto offered gently, his hand coming to rest on top of Noctis' where it sat between them. "This is way better than I could have dreamed."

Lately, there was a sparkle in Prompto's eye that Noctis took notice of. The sparkle of confidence, that took everything that had always made Prompto beautiful and magnified it a thousandfold. It was still a work in progress, but honestly, Noctis was okay with it that way. If he had a sudden change; if he went from one day being the sweet and perfectly shy person that Noctis was head over heels in love with to being a total ball of confidence instead… well, that would be a _good_ thing, sure. But Noctis would miss the shyness. Noctis would miss the dusting of pink that coated his cheeks when someone paid him a compliment. Not to mention, Noctis would worry that a daemon had somehow taken his place.

With that thought in mind, Noctis smirked and did just that. "Me too. You look amazing, Prom…" he intimated, flipping his hands and knotting their fingers together tightly.

There it was. The perfectly pink flush that always made his freckles stand out like a bright beacon and took Noctis' breath away. And it did just that right then, too. For a second, he didn't breathe, but then, he picked back up like normal, lifting Prompto's hand and brushing his lips lightly along each of Prompto's knuckles.

Prompto smiled, leaning a little bit closer to him, but in that moment, his eyes went back out to the dance floor; to the couples who danced together happily. It was obvious what he wanted. He wanted to dance. As much as Noctis wanted this to be perfect, when he thought about himself on a dance floor like that, all he could think of was everyone in the area laughing at him as they watched him flail around like a complete and total fool. Still, the way Prompto looked longingly out at the dance floor, Noctis was reasonably sure that making a fool out of himself by dancing was a small price to pay to make the night what Prompto deserved.

So, swallowing his pride and resigning himself to look completely foolish, Noctis squeezed Prompto's hand to gather his attention. "Do you want to dance with me?" he asked.

"R-really?" Prompto asked, happiness twinkling his eyes a little bit brighter than normal. Not an easy task for someone with eyes that could make a diamond jealous, but he managed.

Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm not much of a dancer, but for you, I'll do it," he chuckled softly.

Prompto shrugged. "It's okay. I don't think I'm much of a dancer, either. I wouldn't know, though, really. I never have."

First kiss. First dance. Noctis wasn't sure what he'd done to be so lucky as to be all of these firsts for Prompto, but he definitely wasn't complaining. He stood quickly, deciding to shake off any remaining nerves by making a silly show of himself. Just to make Prompto smile. In a flourishing gesture, he took the hand that had just been holding Prompto's and extended it down to him with an overly fancy bow.

"Well then, Mr. Argentum, may I have this dance?"

When Prompto laughed, nodded, and placed a hand in Noctis' with a declaration of, "but of course, Mr. Caelum. It would be my honor," Noctis decided it was all worth it.

They made it to the dance floor, just in time for the song to change to something up-tempo and fast, and it was quickly established that Noctis had absolutely no place on the dance floor. He couldn't dance. His rhythm was fine, but he had no idea what to do with his limbs.

It was pretty evident right away which of the two was the better dancer. Prompto had the rhythm to spare, as he swayed to the beat and moved his arms like he knew _exactly_ what he was doing. It was the last thing Noctis would have ever expected, for Prompto to look like he _belonged_ on the dance floor—and left Noctis struggling to keep up—but that was exactly what was happening.

Noctis couldn't even express how impressive it was. Not to mention how _sexy_ it was, the way his hips swayed to the beat of the dance song that blared over the speakers. Several people—a couple women, and a couple of men from the sidelines—stared at him, and while it brought forth a flash of unreasonable jealousy, it also made Noctis realize how far Prompto had come all over again. He didn't seem to notice the stares; he didn't balk or hide like he would have done before. For one reason or another, he just kept dancing like it was what he was put on the earth to do.

Except, suddenly, he stopped. He looked at Noctis with an eyebrow arched. "You're not gonna dance, too?"

"I was. I'm... really not good at it, though. It's almost more fun to watch you. You're really good." A _slightly_ lusty grin crossed Noctis' lips, but he couldn't help it. Prompto looked incredible dancing. The way his hips swayed... it put thoughts into Noctis' head. Thoughts that he'd been having for weeks now, honestly. Thoughts that it was getting harder to ignore.

Prompto laughed sheepishly, before placing a hand on Noctis' shoulder. The other found its way into Noctis free hand, pulling him into an old-fashioned dance position. "Well, don't you think I want to watch you, too?" His tone was quiet, and the dusting of red on his cheeks caught Noctis' attention right away, too.

The thought _hadn't_ crossed Noctis' mind, but honestly... that was another sign that maybe the _physical_ aspect of his want wasn't one-sided. As he placed his hand on the small of Prompto's back, pulling him a little bit closer and moving clumsily alongside Prompto to the up-tempo beat of the song, Noctis tried to get his mind out of the gutter. With Prompto's hips close to his, though, it was hard to keep it out.

"You can't really watch me like this, though," Noctis whispered, his tone quiet enough for just Prompto to hear.

With a soft chuckle, Prompto shrugged a shoulder. "Don't need to watch if I can feel," he murmured back. "Just lose yourself in the song for a second. That should help you feel a little bit better about dancing." It was gentle guidance, but the way it was whispered into Noctis' ear was a little bit more distracting than helpful. That was fine, though.

If nothing else, Noctis could do one thing that the couple that Prompto was watching before had done. The song was winding up to end, so it was the perfect time for it, too. With a smirk quirking across his face, he took the hand that was in Prompto's, stepped back away from him, spun an eager Prompto around until they reached the extent of their locked arms. The pair shared a lopsided grin, and Prompto took the cue, spinning around four times along with Noctis' arm as he brought Prompto back. When he was back against Noctis' chest again, Noctis leaned over and dipped Prompto down so low that his arm hung back and touched the pavement. Just in time for the music to wane and then change into a new song.

Prompto laughed, a soft and gentle note, as Noctis helped him stand up straight. "I'd always wanted to do that," he admitted in a soft murmur as he draped his arms lazily around Noctis' shoulders.

The song had changed into a slow song; one that Noctis recognized, and the way Prompto draped his hands around Noctis' neck and met his eyes with a gentle flicker of hope and question told Noctis that he wanted to dance to this song, too. That was fine. That was _more_ than fine. Noctis wasn't really sure about his _fast_ dancing skills, but he was definitely sure that he could at least keep the beat well enough to slow dance. So, he placed a hand on each of Prompto's hips, pulling him a little bit closer, then wrapping his arms around the small of his best friend's back.

Prompto smiled, nestling just slightly against Noctis' shoulder, and murmured, "thanks. I like this."

"Me too..." Noctis murmured in reply. He took a quick look around at the other people around them. The dance area had cleared out a lot since the start of the slow song, but the few couples that were there were holding each other just as intimately as Noctis was with Prompto. Couples. Were they a couple? They hadn't really said the words yet or anything... but here they were, holding each other as closely and as intimately as all of the other couples around them were. So, did that mean that they were? Noctis definitely wouldn't have minded, that was for sure.

In the back of his mind, a twinge of that unpleasant feeling that he'd felt more and more over the past couple of weeks—like he was being watched—came over him, but he brushed it off quickly. He'd watched other people while they danced. It was probably someone on the sidelines, watching them and wishing that they were as lucky as Noctis was to be holding onto someone as amazing as Prompto. Well, he agreed with them. He wouldn't just let them stare without staking his claim a little bit, though. With the position his arms had around Prompto's waist, he pulled Prompto a little bit closer, flush against his body.

It was then that a gentle sound caught his attention. A soft murmuring sound of singing. _"Oh, it's you, I know, you're the one I really love..."_ It wasn't from the speakers. It wasn't from anyone around them... it was from _Prompto_. A tiny, lopsided smirk crossed Noctis' face as he tilted his head to look at where Prompto's head rested against his shoulder.

 _"How will I know if you really love me? I say a prayer with every heartbeat..."_ Prompto's voice was quiet. Barely audible. Noctis could hear it, though, and he watched as Prompto turned his head so that he was meeting Noctis' eyes. "Sorry. Was I-"

Noctis shook his head no. "You weren't bothering me," he insisted. "I didn't know you could sing."

Prompto shrugged. "I can't. Not really. Most of the time when I sing along with the radio, people tell me to shut up, or that I'm interrupting the song. So, I don't usually do it. I just... this song is..." He stopped abruptly, breathed in a soft and nervous breath of laughter, then met Noctis' eye through a curtain of blond hair. "I'm having such a good time that I couldn't help it." At that, he shrugged his head to the side, before glancing down at the ground to his left.

"Hey," Noctis called, gathering his attention from the ground.

When Prompto looked at him again, Noctis nodded his head and leaned his forehead against Prompto's. "Sing more for me. Please?" he asked, his voice just barely above a whisper.

And Prompto did just that. _"I fall in love whenever we meet; I'm asking you 'cause you know about these things..."_ Sometimes, Noctis used to wonder if moments like this happened in reality. If you could love someone so much that every single thing, every single song, every single _moment_ reminded you of them or made you think of how you feel about them. Until he met and fell in love with Prompto Argentum, Noctis wasn't sure if it was true. Here, now, as he held Prompto flush against his body and a song that pretty much perfectly described how he _felt_ about Prompto flooded his ears from both the speakers and Prompto's lips? Noctis realized that he was living it.

 _"If he loves me... if he loves me... if he loves me not..."_ Prompto sang, and there was something in his eyes right then. Something different. Like he wasn't just singing a song. Like he was asking Noctis a question. An important question. One that Noctis himself had wanted to ask for weeks now.

Noctis decided, in that instant, that it was time. The pair of them dancing close, Prompto singing to him (maybe) and looking at him like he was the only person in the world that mattered... It was time. It was finally time. Leaning his head down so that it rested against Prompto's shoulder, he listened as Prompto repeated the last line again along with the speakers. As soon as he finished, he leaned his head against Noctis' shoulder too. Noctis turned, leaning in so close that he couldn't speak without his lips brushing against Prompto's ear. So, that was what he did.

"I do, you know?" Noctis asked.

The song changed. It was a faster song, now, but neither of them seemed to take notice. When Noctis whispered in Prompto's ear, Prompto seemed to freeze for a couple of seconds, then he lifted his head slowly from Noctis' shoulder, urging Noctis to do the same and meet his eye. Only when Noctis did, did he speak. "What did you say?"

Here might not have been the best place, honestly. The music was loud, and he could barely hear Prompto's whisper. People were dancing along with the quicker tempoed song now; the floor filled up again almost immediately after the slow song ended, and people almost bumped into them where they still clutched each other tightly. The song was some thumping beat dance song; something that Prompto listened to in their cabin all the time, and it made it hard to focus. Slowly, tentatively, Noctis unwrapped their arms from each other, but grabbed Prompto's hand.

With a nervous smile on his face, he squeezed Prompto's hand in his and said, "come with me and I'll tell you, okay?" beckoning with his other hand for Prompto to follow him from the dance floor.

Again, it was almost like a movie. The pair of them ran through the crowd hand in hand, Noctis shouldering slightly through the bigger groups of people to get them a clear path and out of the bustling Lestallum streets. He walked them further away, past the less populated areas in town—there were still people there, and he was going to be _damned_ if anything interrupted him this time; not conversation, not Hour Twenty Five, not an accidental bump into his shoulder—and into a completely secluded area just between the plant and the movie theater.

"Back alley slut strikes again," Noctis couldn't help but murmur to Prompto as they rounded the corner.

Prompto laughed, a soft and gentle note, then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind. We both are. Remember?"

With a soft laugh, Noctis tugged Prompto around a wall and into a corner. Back away from any possible interruption. There was no one here. Nothing but a view of the plant, which was more or less a ghost town with the festival in town.

Prompto leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath, looking at Noctis with a nervous but excited grin on his face. "Now... I... wh-what did you say back there?" he asked.

Now that they were here, though, Noctis' nerves took over and his heart pounded in his chest. It almost threatened to pound _out_ of his chest. It was a heat of the moment confession. The music—which they could still hear very quietly from back here—thrummed in his ear, Prompto's voice convinced him that spilling his guts was a good idea. Without that, though, he needed to find a new way to boost himself; to bolster his confidence.

So, he stepped forward, right into Prompto's space, and leaned close to him. Noctis' lips found their way to Prompto's, then down to his neck, then down to the base of his earlobe. "I said," he murmured into Prompto's ear and then felt a tiny little triumphant grin cross his face at the way Prompto took in a sharp gasp at the feeling of Noctis' breath in his ear, "that I do."

"You do what?" Prompto responded in a whisper, his hands roaming up and coming to rest on Noctis' hips.

Noctis leaned his head down again, pressing hungry open-mouthed kisses to Prompto's neck again, then back up to his earlobe, then again, he whispered, his voice low and rasping in Prompto's ear. "Love you," he stated simply, turning his head so that he was looking into Prompto's eyes. "I love you so much that I can't stand it."

When Prompto's only initial response was a smile so beautiful that Noctis was pretty sure it could move mountains, Noctis responded with a nervous smirk of his own, before tipping his head down to busy himself with raining open-mouthed kisses on Prompto's neck again. Prompto was tilting his head back, Noctis could tell by the angle of his neck, and his throat moved just slightly with each deep and heavy breath he took. After a couple of seconds, he reached down and grabbed Noctis' chin, tilting his head up and capturing his lips eagerly, hungrily, as he lifted the other hand to tangle in Noctis' hair.

The kiss lasted for a good minute, maybe more, and when they broke for air, both of them were gasping to fill their depleted lungs. Prompto, between gasps, met Noctis' eye and smiled. "I love you, too," he responded.

Noctis grinned as he tried to fill his lungs still. It was hard, when the very words that Prompto just spoke took them away again, but eventually, he managed. They loved each other. He'd wondered, at least in the back corners of his mind, if Prompto loved him, too. Sometimes, he'd get feelings that it was true. Sometimes he wondered if maybe he was reading too much into it or if it was something that he was just _wishing_ to be true. Now, though, with the words out there, drizzling into his ears like honey, he knew that he wasn't wrong. That it _wasn't_ wishful thinking.

He loved Prompto, Prompto loved him, and now they both knew it. Now they could really, _truly_ be together.

Happiness had Noctis leaning in to hungrily capture Prompto's lips with his again. Prompto kissed him back, a kiss that was just as hungry and eager as Noctis' was, and Noctis realized that the _physical_ need wasn't just on his end, either. He'd had a hunch. All of those kisses, all of those times that they'd almost gotten carried away, those couldn't just be one-sided, right? Now it was all falling into place. When the kiss broke, Noctis gasped for air again, moving his affections down to Prompto's neck again. "I love you, Prom. I love you so much," he repeated against Prompto's skin.

Prompto's voice was soft and breathy, but he replied in kind. "Love you too, Noct..." he murmured, pulling Noctis' hips a little bit closer to his. "I... I've loved you since I met you, I think. Like... when we met on the train? I was nervous. But it was a different nervous. And that night... as we were running through the woods? I felt safe because you were with me. I knew you'd never let anything hurt me."

Humming a negative answer against Prompto's throat, Noctis shook his head. "Never. Not even back then," he murmured.

"And since then, it's like... you've always been there for me. You... y-you made me feel like I'm okay the way I am," Prompto whispered.

Noctis hummed again, moving his kisses down to Prompto's collarbone, barely visible above the neckline of his shirt. "More than okay," he murmured. "You're perfect. You're everything. _My_ everything. You're... you're just you."

Prompto trapped Noctis' chin between his fingers, lifting his head so that their eyes were locked. "Noct... I want you," he whispered, his voice shaky and a little bit nervous. "I want you to... can we..." Nerves had him stammering, stumbling over his words, but Prompto's stammer had never bothered Noctis before. Besides that, the point was clear. Prompto wanted Noctis.

Well, Noctis wanted Prompto, too. "If we hurry, we'll be back at the hotel in a-"

With a shake of his head, Prompto's smirk went lopsided and even more nervous. "No. H-here. Now. Don't think I can wait..." he admitted.

And okay. That was _quite possibly_ the hottest thing that Noctis had ever heard in his life. With wide eyes, he stared at Prompto and brought a hand up to smooth the thumb along his cheek, with every intent to ask Prompto if he was sure. When Prompto's only response was to dash his tongue out and run it along Noctis' pinky finger... well, Noctis had his answer. Still, just to be safe, he murmured, "are you s-"

"Please?" Prompto whispered. "I've wanted you for weeks now. Months, even. Can we..."

Noctis' heart pounded in his chest, but he nodded all the same. Leaning in, he crashed their lips, chests, and hips together. If Prompto wanted him, Prompto would get him. There was pretty much nothing in the world that Noctis wanted more right then, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [faster song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c0BjfIilgM) they danced to.  
> The [slow one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHDL6BQvKdY). ;D
> 
> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	23. Rendezvous (II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPICY STUFF INCOMING. If you want to skip it, just ctrl+F to "You're so beautiful, Prom"
> 
> ♥

Whatever Prompto had expected to happen on this date, this wasn't it. Hoped? Absolutely. Wished for? _Absolutely_. Thought? No. He thought somehow, some outside factor would find its way into the situation like it always seem to do and stop them from getting here before they did. As he stood pinned between Noctis and a brick wall, though, Prompto was pretty sure that it was going to happen. Noctis' lips were on his neck again, and his hands were under Prompto's shirt, brushing along his stomach.

Leaning back heavy against the wall, he glanced down at Noctis, and was surprised when his friend—friend? Boyfriend? What were they now? And did it really matter when they were getting ready to do what they were definitely getting ready to do?—bent down a little bit and started working at his belt. Noctis went from bending down, to resting on his knees on the pavement, and Prompto looked down at him with wide eyes. This wasn't what he'd asked for. Not at all, actually. That didn't necessarily mean that he _minded_ , not in the least, but it was definitely a surprise all the same.

"N-Noct?" Prompto asked, his voice shuddering as he watched Noctis press an open-mouthed kiss to his stomach, just below his navel.

Noctis looked up at him, a smile on his face and a tiny little mischievous glint in his eye. "Is this okay?" he asked Prompto, leaning in and pressing another couple of peppered kisses to Prompto's stomach, then nipping just lightly at the skin.

Was it okay? Was it _okay_ , for Noctis to be down on his knees in front of Prompto like he'd been in Prompto's fantasies dozens—no _hundreds_ —of times before now? With a stiff nod, Prompto watched as Noctis finally worked his belt open and then tugged on the button to Prompto's jeans. Good. The pants had fit perfectly before, but right now they felt uncomfortably tight. Prompto writhed his hips in anticipation, as Noctis slowly undid the zipper to his jeans, while still pressing eager and hungry kisses to Prompto's stomach. He peered down, watching Noctis as he tugged down on the hem of Prompto's boxers, freeing Prompto's cock and exposing it to the chilly evening autumn air.

It should have chilled him. He should have felt the chill straight down to his bones, and it should have been enough to make the erection in front of his eyes disappear, but... it didn't. Not even a little bit. Prompto felt his cheeks heat up—this was the first time that anyone aside from Prompto had seen _this part_ of him, after all—and he watched Noctis' expression as an eager glint entered his eye. From where he knelt on the ground, he glanced up at Prompto with a nervous smile.

"Y-you should know that I... I haven't done this before. So, I might not be-"

Prompto's smile softened in spite of himself, and he shrugged his head to the side, catching the nervousness in Noctis' gaze. "It's okay," he promised. "I mean, I've... I've never had one before, so... as long as you don't, like... b-bite me or anything... I don't think I'll have a bad time." That was a stupid way to put it, probably, and Prompto felt his cheeks heating up even more. "I mean! What I mean is... you'll be... you'll be good. I'm sure..."

The nervousness turned back to a predatory grin, and then Noctis leaned forward, before running the tip of his tongue along the very tip of Prompto's erection. Prompto gasped sharply, leaning even harder against the wall and trying to keep some semblance of composure. That was probably lame, but it was the first time ever that anything other his own hands were touching him there, and it was the tongue of the first person that he'd ever really been in love with before. Maybe _that_ was why it felt like someone had lit his body on fire; why he felt like his heart was already going to pound out of his chest. Anticipation was almost worse than anything else.

Then it finally happened. Noctis loosely wrapped his lips against the head of Prompto's cock, wrapping his hand around the base, and slowly started to work his magic. Honestly, Prompto could barely focus on anything but how _amazing_ it felt. Noctis' hand was gentle, but it had calluses in just the right places to make Prompto shudder every single time it made another languid motion up and down his length. Noctis' mouth, too, took a little more of him in. Just a little. What he _didn't_ take, though, was covered by his hand's tortuously slow motions.

One of Prompto's hands came up to tangle in Noctis' hair, and he was pretty sure that his knees were going weak with how incredible this felt. "N-Noct, it... that feels... it feels so good," he murmured, letting his eyes wander down to glance at Noctis.

When Noctis hummed a slow and soft note in response, that was when Prompto completely lost it. It felt good before. More than good, really. Like, the best thing that Prompto had ever felt in his life, at least physically. The vibrations of Noctis' lips humming around him, though, made him cry out into the night. He tried. He _really_ tried to stay quiet. He couldn't, though. The sound probably didn't reach the city where everyone was still celebrating and enjoying themselves... but if there was anyone around where they were? It probably got that far, at least.

Noctis still didn't stop. In fact, quite the opposite. He laughed a soft note through his nose, and took Prompto in a tiny bit further, then made another low humming noise. Prompto felt his knees quiver, but Noctis reached up and placed his free hand on Prompto's thigh in an attempt to steady him. Then, he tried to take in a little bit more.

Except, that turned out to be a little bit more than he could handle, because he pulled back and coughed a couple of times, a bright red blush working its way across his cheek. "Fuck," he seethed at himself.

"I-it's... it's okay," Prompto gasped out. "It's okay, you don't have to-"

Noctis shook his head no, though. "No, I want to," he answered in a hungry tone. "I want to, if you want me to, I mean." His cheeks were still red, embarrassment shone on his face like a beacon, but he still looked at Prompto, the eagerness in his eyes now mixed with determination.

It was hard not to be a little bit amused, but Prompto just nodded his head yes. "I do," he answered. It felt so good. _So_ good. He wanted more.

Noctis delivered, and then some. With a nod and a tiny grin on his face, Noctis resumed his position on his knees, with his hand on Prompto's thigh. His lips wrapped around Prompto's cock again, and his other hand found its way back to the base. And then he went right back to it, like he'd never stopped. Once again, he turned Prompto into a writhing, breathless mess.

Prompto's hips twitched in an attempt not to roll forward, and he glanced down at Noctis. There was something strangely hot about seeing his best friend, the man he loved, with his lips wrapped around Prompto's cock. Noctis glanced up at him through a curtain of dark hair, his eyes smiling wildly, as he started gliding his head up and down along the length of Prompto's cock, as far as he could. His hand covered the rest, his eyes were locked on Prompto's, with a wild smirk in them, he hummed around Prompto's length as he moved, and Prompto was a wreck.

He felt it building. Not just months of sexual tension and desire for _Noctis_ , but _years_ of thinking that he was undesirable; that no one would want him like this. He could feel himself reaching the peak, closer and closer, and when Noctis ran the tip of his tongue along Prompto's tip again, he whispered a silent warning.

"Noct... N-Noct, I don't think I can... I'm..."

As if giving him the okay, Noctis started _sucking_ along with what he'd already been doing. That was it. Prompto couldn't take anymore. He came, gasping and crying out into the empty alleyway, resting his full weight against the wall and trying _desperately_ not to buck his hips or hurt Noctis in any way... but he couldn't help it. His hips rolled and snapped at least once, and he heard Noctis sputter in response. An apology wasn't really in his mind at the moment. All that was there were stars, white-hot ecstasy, and the desperation to find some semblance of stability before he slid down the wall and onto his ass on the ground.

The whole time, Noctis kept him going. He continued his attentions, seeing Prompto through to the end of his release, and then pulled back. The war to stay standing didn't end so well. Prompto slid down to the ground, still trying to find air to fill his lungs, and he opened his eyes, looking lazily at Noctis with a hazy smile spreading across his face.

Noctis met his eyes, then swallowed everything in his mouth, and Prompto could do nothing but blink. "Didn't that taste-"

"Good," Noctis answered in a throaty whisper as he tugged Prompto's boxers back up for him. "Like you."

Like Prompto. Prompto's heart tried to find a steady rhythm in his chest, but all the same, he grabbed Noctis and pulled him close, disregarding the fact that Noctis had just had... well, _Prompto_... in his mouth. It didn't matter. Prompto kissed him hard, like kissing Noctis' lips could anchor him to reality, but truly, all it did was bliss him out even further. The taste was a little bit different; sort of like the usual taste Noctis' lips had, but with something a little bit different mixed in. Prompto kissed him all the same, and when Noctis crawled over to him, Prompto could very clearly see the outline of Noctis' cock pressed against his zipper.

Prompto changed their positions a little bit, moving his legs over Noctis' so that he was sitting in Noctis' lap but facing him, and then slid up so that when his ass hit the ground between Noctis' open legs, their groins were pressed tight together. Then, with his eyes locked on Noctis', he rocked his hips upward just slightly, rubbing them together through Noctis' pants and Prompto's boxers.

Noctis sucked in a sharp but shaky breath, and that sound, along with the way Noctis leaned his head down onto Prompto's shoulder just slightly, had Prompto's cock twitching in interest again. He glanced down between them, rolling his hips once more, before reaching his hands down between them and opting to busy himself with opening Noctis' belt instead. It was the blue belt. The one Loqi had given to Noctis. The thought made Prompto smile a little in spite of himself as his fingers fumbled with the buckle. Then, with one hand on the button to Noctis' pants, he let the other one lower to trace the outline of Noctis in his pants.

When Noctis raised his head, he glanced down between them, then flicked his eyes up to meet with Prompto's. "Prom, I need-"

Nodding, Prompto grinned a little bit. "I know. It's okay," he answered, leaning forward and capturing Noctis' lips again. "I'm gonna… I'm gonna do something nice, okay? I…" He trailed off, a little bit of nervousness seeping into his expression. At least he hoped it would be nice. He had literally no experience in any of this, and Noctis had just made him the happiest person in the world… what if he didn't…

Cutting his thought process off before any more doubts could take root, though, Noctis stole another kiss, smoothing his hand along Prompto's cheek. "Whatever you do, it'll be perfect. 'Cause it's you."

The heat rising to Prompto's cheeks right then was a different kind. A softer kind. A kind that came with hearing gentle words of encouragement and love from someone like Noctis. Prompto managed a smile despite his nerves—despite the fact that he was still full-on worried that he wouldn't do well and that he'd let Noctis down—and then reached down, continuing his attentions to Noctis' cock through his boxers as he opened the zipper to his friend's pants. Shimmying his hips back a little bit, he worked Noctis' boxers down, revealing Noctis' erection, and then he turned to glance at his friend for the briefest second, before reaching down and sliding his finger along the tip, where a little bit of precum had dripped, to wipe it away.

When Prompto took his hand away, leaving Noctis' cock exposed, the tiny little whine of wanting that Noctis gave was precious. " _Prom_ ," he purred into Prompto's ear, and Prompto almost crumbled right then.

As it stood, all that happened was another twitch of interest twinged, and Prompto was already half-hard again. He breathed a huff of laughter, before moving his own boxers out of the way to reveal his half-interest to Noctis. It was amusing, and probably should have been a little bit embarrassing, that Noctis had this effect on Prompto. It was what it was, though, and he definitely didn't mind in the least. Prompto shimmied forward again, pressing the warmth of his exposed groin into the warmth of Noctis' exposed groin. When Noctis flicked his eyes downward, and then upward to meet Prompto's, a tiny little smirk crossed his face.

With nervous hands, Prompto reached forward and gently took hold of Noctis' cock, listening to the soft outward push of breath coming from his friend's nose when he did. From just a touch. Then, Prompto took the other hand and put it on his own, bringing it close to his other hand, before wrapping both hands around both of them.

That, it seemed, was the moment that everything clicked into place for Noctis.

Before Prompto could even think to start moving his hands, Noctis' came to join them, wrapping around and helping him hold them in place. From here, he could see that Noctis was a little bit bigger than he was. A little bit. Not _too_ much bigger; just a tiny bit longer and just a _tiny_ bit thicker. Part of him wondered what it would feel like, if they ever got to the point where they actually had _sex_ , not just messed around in a back alley. The thought brought his mind back to some of the more vivid fantasies and dreams he'd had and he could feel himself twitching even further to interest in his hands. Before long, he'd need this again just as much as Noctis did now.

He grinned, leaning his head up to lock eyes with Noctis for a few seconds before leaning his forehead against Noctis'. Then, the pair of them started stroking their hands in rhythm. Slowly at first. A gentle rhythm, where Prompto would pick up another bit of precum from the end of Noctis' cock and use it to slick their movements every time he got the chance. Noctis' head fell from where it rested against Prompto's forehead to land on his shoulder, where his hard and heavy breath against Prompto's collarbone proceeded to drive Prompto _crazy_.

Prompto leaned over, pressing his lips to Noctis' neck—slightly slick with sweat that made the kiss taste pleasantly salty on Prompto's tongue—then leaned up to kiss just underneath Noctis' earlobe. The fact that he'd already reduced Noctis to a panting mess emboldened him a little bit, as did the friction of their hands stroking in time and bringing Prompto close to a second climax.

Moving his lips a little bit, he lowered his voice to a soft whisper when he said, "you know, Noct, this-" He stopped to breathe a shaky breath- "this is a little different than it is in my fantasies," and then nibbled on Noctis' earlobe gently.

"Y-you've... _fuck, Prom_ -" Noctis' response was shaky, like he was a little bit closer to the edge. "You've..." another pause, and another shaky breath inward, during which Noctis' hips snapped up eagerly. "fantasized about this?"

Prompto hummed an affirmative answer with his teeth still gently attached to Noctis' earlobe. When he finally stopped nibbling, he leaned in close to Noctis' ear again. "Kind of, anyway..." He breathed out heavily through his nose, trying desperately to hold on long enough to get through what he was trying to say. "Except in my fuh-fantasies? Mmh... y-you're fucking me so hard into our bed that I can't walk straight for a week. M-maybe we can try that next time. You pressing this-" He squeezed his thumb around Noctis' cock, then grinned when it got another snap of Noctis' hips- "so deep into me that we can't even tell where you end and I begin, then fucking me until all I can do is wh-whine your name."

The very second Prompto finished his confession, he heard Noctis shout, " _Fuck_ Prom!" into his shoulder. Fortunately, that was muffled by Prompto's flesh and his shirt, because there was no way it wouldn't have been heard by someone, somewhere.

Grunting and shuddering, Prompto felt Noctis tense beneath him, and then seconds later he felt the heat and stickiness of Noctis' release dripping slowly down onto his hand. The moisture provided Prompto with the slickness he needed to speed his attentions a little bit more, and it wasn't long after before Prompto came a second time. A dry one this time, but no less intense than the first. His attentions to the pair of them became erratic and lurching as the waves coursed through him again. He breathed hard and heavy against Noctis' shoulder as he rode the waves, and he felt the warm heat of Noctis' breath against his shoulder, too.

It was different from his fantasies, sure. This, though? This was just as good. Maybe even better. Noctis' body pressed against his, Noctis treating him like he was the only thing in the world that mattered. Just the two of them, in a place where daemons and Hour Twenty-Five were the farthest thing from their mind. Even if that place was a somewhat dingy back alley in Lestallum, Prompto couldn't have picked a better place if he'd tried.

When he came down from the high, he felt Noctis pressing lazy, sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to his neck and shoulder. His breath was still a little bit heavy, as was Noctis', but it was obvious that they were both feeling pretty damn good at the moment.

"You're so beautiful, Prom. I don't know what the hell I did to deserve it. To deserve you."

Prompto lifted his hands, silencing Noctis by stroking a long and languid stroke up his cock with his thumb and enjoying the shaky gasp that it earned, before leaning back a little bit. When Noctis sat up, Prompto made a show of lifting his right hand to his mouth with the intent of using his tongue to clean it up. The other hand, he wiped on his boxers, but when he finished, he wrapped his lips around the center joint of his index finger lengthwise, where a large rivulet of Noctis' release was. When that earned him a shaky breath of approval from Noctis, he repeated it with the beads that rested on his middle finger and ring finger.

Another breathy chuckle escaped Noctis' lips, and smirked a lopsided smirk. "That's... really hot," he murmured under his breath.

Smirking at him, Prompto leaned forward and pressed his lips to Noctis'. "For the record... you deserve me because you're amazing. Because you're the bravest," a kiss to Noctis' forehead, "nicest," a kiss to Noctis' left cheek, "coolest," a kiss to Noctis' chin, "and best person I know." When he finished speaking, he pressed a kiss to Noctis' nose.

"Boop," Noctis muttered under his breath.

Remembering the night when Noctis was drunk, and the pair of them almost kissed on the balcony of their cabin, all Prompto could do was chuckle and lean his head against his best friend's shoulder. "I still can't believe you did that," he teased with a murmur into Noctis' t-shirt.

Noctis smirked. "Listen, Prom. The way I was raised, any time you touch someone's nose or someone touches your nose? You're s'posed to say 'boop.' I dunno about you, but I find the institution of booping sacred."

Again, Prompto laughed. "I love you, Noct," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Noctis replied.

Even though they'd said the words already, it still made Prompto's heart stutter to say them, or to hear Noctis' say them. It was something he suspected would never get old, no matter how long he and Noctis stuck together. Except, that left one question in Prompto's mind. He leaned back again, his back pressing against the brick wall, and met Noctis' eyes.

The question must have been pretty obvious, because Noctis regarded him with gentle eyes as he tugged his boxers back up, then reached over to do the same for Prompto. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"More than okay," Prompto admitted. "I mean... I know how you feel now. And we... y'know. Did that..." A bit of heat rose to his cheeks when he gestured to the area between them.

Noctis nodded and chuckled. "Yeah, we definitely did," he agreed.

With a sheepish chuckle, Prompto nodded and met Noctis' eye again. "I'm just... I'm curious. D-does this mean... are we dating? Are you my boyfriend, or... or are we best friends still? Does it mean... what did it mean to you?" It was everything to Prompto. Everything that was important. Noctis was everything that was important. Just because they'd fooled around a little bit, though, didn't mean that they were miraculously dating; didn't mean that Noctis was miraculously his boyfriend. Did he want it to? Absolutely. At the same time, though, he really, _really_ wanted to hear Noctis say it.

That wasn't to say that he wouldn't be fine if things stayed as they were; if they were still just 'friends who fooled around and just happened to love each other.' Or maybe it _did_ mean that. Could Prompto go back to the way things were before, or would it be too hard, knowing how things could really be?

It ended up not mattering, because Noctis slid his hand behind Prompto's neck, pulling him in for a gentle, lazy kiss that made Prompto's whole body come alive with energy all over again. Noctis' hand tangled in Prompto's hair, and Prompto's arm wrapped around his back in return, holding him in place loosely. It wasn't an answer, but that didn't stop it from feeling absolutely amazing.

"It can... it can mean whatever you want it to mean, Prom," Noctis murmured. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

There was a layer to his tone. Words underneath the words he spoke that he wasn't saying, telling Prompto that while he was trying to be nonchalant, while he was trying to make it out like any answer was okay... he was hoping for a certain one. Prompto tried to reason it out. Noctis had told Prompto that he had the same feelings that Prompto did. That had to mean that some part of him wanted Prompto to be his boyfriend, right?

It made sense to Prompto. So... with a hopeful half-smile on his face, Prompto nodded his head. "I do," he answered. "If you want to be-"

Again, Noctis silenced Prompto with a kiss. "Then you're my boyfriend," he murmured against Prompto's lips. "And I'm yours. And I love you so much that I don't even know what to do with myself half the time..." The confession came alongside a soft laugh as he untangled his hand from Prompto's hair.

A boyfriend. Not only did Prompto have a boyfriend, but that particular boyfriend was the only person that he'd ever really been in love with. Prompto wasn't sure he'd ever been this happy before. Even with everything else around them that was going horribly, Prompto was in love with, and loved by, Noctis, and that was the only thing that mattered.

When Prompto glanced back at Noctis, he watched a contemplative look cross his boyfriend's face. His _boyfriend's_ face. Just thinking it made him smile in spite of himself. Still, the look on Noctis' face was serious. Like he was wondering something, or trying to decide something. The fatalistic side of Prompto worried that Noctis was having second thoughts, but before he could even think enough to bring the words to his lips, he watched Noctis reach into his pocket and then pull something over his head. In the dark, it looked like a chain or something. Prompto got a quick glimpse of crystal, too. Other than that, though, the motion was so quick that he missed it altogether.

Nervously, Noctis met his eyes. "Okay. So, we just… y'know. Did what we did. I was saving this for the night I finally decided to tell you I love you. I've had 'em forever, and wanted to give 'em to you for almost as long..." he mumbled nervously.

Give Prompto something? "Noct, you've already given me-"

"This is different," Noctis interrupted, flicking his eyes up to meet Prompto's and holding his hand out.

Prompto blinked, but glanced down at Noctis' outstretched hand, before reaching out and placing his open hand under it. First one, then two things dropped into it, and when Prompto glanced down, he was shocked to see a crystal that looked like Noctis' Crystal Space crystal, and a black ring with a tiny crystal shard in it.

He blinked at Noctis, before glancing back down at his hand. "What are these?" he asked.

Puffing out a nervous breath of laughter, Noctis started to explain. "Well… those were from the box I got from my dad's room. The ring… was something that my dad made for my mom. He said… Weskham told me that he said it was made to make her aeon stronger, so it could protect her better. I…" He glanced at the ring, his cheeks going a little bit pink. "I want you to have it. And wear it. I got it resized and I think it'll fit on your ring finger. So…"

Again, Prompto just blinked. Noctis was giving Prompto his mother's ring. He stared at it for a second, before debating which hand to slide it on. The left one was for engagement or wedding rings, but the right one… wasn't really that special. A ring this special belonged on the hand that signs of love usually went on, right? That was enough to justify it to Prompto at the moment, and he slid it on his left ring finger. A perfect fit. He flicked his eyes back up to Noctis again.

Noctis was still smiling nervously. "Good. It fits. Will you… will you promise me you'll wear it? Always?" he asked.

Prompto nodded, too dumbstruck to do anything else.

Reaching forward, Noctis took the necklace from Prompto's hand. It had a crystal on the end of it, that looked like it was dead. "This," he muttered, as he reached over and draped the necklace over Prompto's neck, "was my mom's. Her Crystal Space crystal. I want you to have it, so that… if you ever worry that you're not loved, you can look at it. And, y'know… remember how much I love you. That you'll always have me."

Glancing down at the crystal, Prompto couldn't help the overwhelming flood of emotion that hit him full force. The ring. The necklace. Noctis was giving him two things that were so important; two things that he had that were reminders of his parents. Two things that Noctis was willing to part with. For him.

He couldn't help it. Between the confession of love, the messing around they'd just done, and the overwhelming sense of _happiness_ he was feeling for the first time in his life… Prompto couldn't hold it in. He exploded into a mess of tears, throwing his arms around Noctis' neck and letting them all loose.

Against Noctis' skin, he murmured, "I love you. I love you so much, Noctis. Th-thank you, I…"

Noctis smiled against his neck, and muttered, "I love you, too. And you're welcome," in return.

They stayed like that for quite some time, just holding each other in messy clothes in a dirty back alley in Lestallum. Maybe it was weird. Maybe it was lame. Prompto didn't think so, though. Nothing about them was normal, so the moment was really just uniquely them. Prompto, when he finally stopped crying, moved to press a slow and loving kiss to Noctis' lips.

"Do you wanna skip the movie?" Noctis murmured quietly against Prompto's lips. "Just... go back to the room and be together for awhile?"

The movie. Prompto hummed a soft note of laughter to himself. "I… completely forgot about the movie," he admitted with a sheepish smile when he pulled his head away and used the heel of his palm to wipe his eyes. "I was too caught up in… you. Everything about you, and us, and…" He trailed off, then nodded his head. "Yeah. I do wanna skip the movie." Especially if skipping the movie meant that they got to lay together again, and Prompto didn't have to hold back. He could be with Noctis, knowing that Noctis loved him, too.

Knowing that Noctis was his boyfriend.

"Besides, we're kinda a mess, anyway," Noctis added with an amused smirk on his face as he looked down at their clothes.

And he was right. There were stains, obvious in what they were from, on both of their shirts, and on Prompto's vest, too. Both of them were a little bit sweaty, and Prompto was pretty sure that the seat of his pants was filthy with dirt from sitting on the ground. Getting back to the room and having a nice, hot shower—maybe one with Noctis, even—sounded more than amazing.

Prompto tilted his head to the side in a shrug. "The mess was worth it, though."

Noctis nodded his agreement. "And _then_ some," he muttered, stealing another kiss and then leaning back where he sat.

With his hands on the ground, Noctis maneuvered his legs out from under Prompto's and pushed himself to his feet, reaching a hand down to help Prompto up, too. Immediately, and almost embarrassingly, Prompto's eyes were drawn to the way that Noctis' pants, still unbuttoned and unzipped, hung a little bit low on his hips. Even though they'd just done all of that, even though Prompto was feeling satisfied—really satisfied, for the first time in his life—he still couldn't help the little bit of eager curiosity that led his mind back down to his fantasies.

Almost as though reading his mind, Noctis smirked at him once he'd stood up from the ground. "Tell me something."

"Anything," Prompto nodded his agreement.

While Noctis zipped his jeans, he ran his teeth over his lower lip and met Prompto's eyes. "Do you, um… do you _really_ have fantasies about me fucking you so hard that you can't walk straight?" That same deep, husky tone he took when he murmured into Prompto's ear moments ago, found its way back to his voice again and threatened to make all of Prompto's blood go south for a third time.

Instead, though, Prompto just blushed. "Yeah. More often than I want to admit out loud," he whispered, zipping and buttoning his jeans, then fastening his belt. "You know how sometimes I take a little extra time in the shower?"

Noctis grinned again. "Are they always of me fucking you like that?" he asked.

Okay. Prompto didn't expect the conversation to take _this_ turn, and he was definitely more than a little bit embarrassed. Still, it had been his choice to reveal those fantasies to Noctis, and apparently they'd been enough to get him to come. So, were his motives a little bit less than pure when he answered? Probably. But answer he did.

"No," he answered, sliding his hand into Noctis' as they started their way back through the Lestallum streets and toward the hotel. "Sometimes, they're of you fucking me in the shower. Or of you fucking me over the table in the lounge…"

Noctis smirked. "May not be our bed, but… I can make at least one of those come true in a little while. If you think you can go ag-"

Maybe the nod that Prompto gave in return was a little bit too eager. Maybe the way he swallowed thickly, letting his eyes roam over Noctis' body, was a little bit too obvious in how eager he was. He couldn't help it, though. Not only was Noctis his first, and the first person he'd ever actually loved… but Noctis was his _first_. He was twenty-years-old, and Noctis was his first, and yeah. He could definitely go again.

So, he answered, "I can definitely go again…" in a quiet murmur through his blush.

The smirk on Noctis' face told him that he had nothing to be embarrassed about. "Probably won't do it so hard that you can't walk straight the first time… but we'll get there." He nudged Prompto gently with his arm, knocking him slightly off balance, before pulling him back in close and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

As the pair of them walked back to the Leville together, with the promise of more fun that night, Prompto couldn't take the smile off his face. Whatever he had been expecting on this date… to come out of it in his first relationship—his only relationship, he hoped—and to mess around and maybe, hopefully, have sex? Was not it. Prompto still wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve Noctis, but he'd do it a hundred thousand times over, as long as things got to stay this way forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... that happened. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed that little reprieve, because there's a STORM on the way...


	24. Waylay

There was a vague awareness settling in Noctis' mind in the middle of the night at the Leville. After a night spent in bed with Prompto, exploring each other and learning each other's bodies, the two of them finally fell asleep after Hour Twenty-Five (which was an hour and twenty minutes that night) wrapped tightly in one another's arms. At one point, Noctis found himself drifting out of sleep long enough to hear a bit of clamoring in their hotel room. The window creaked open, the room overcame with the chill of the late night Lestallum air, tugging Noctis even further into awareness. He opened his eyes to look around the room, but saw nothing except darkness and Prompto sleeping next to him.

While he just wanted to curl further into his boyfriend and get a little more sleep, the cold contrasted with the warmth in the areas that Prompto's skin was touching and made him shiver. Hissing an annoyed sound, Noctis slowly detangled himself from Prompto's limbs, then managed a gentle laugh when his boyfriend made a soft whining noise and tried to pull him back.

"Where're you goin'?" Prompto murmured.

Grunting gently, Noctis pushed himself to his feet. "Window's open. Just gonna peek outside and close it, then I'll be back."

Prompto muttered softly, hugging his pillow and then curling his knees up to his chest, and Noctis had to laugh a little bit to himself as he walked backward toward the window. Those chocobo pajama pants were adorable. Everything _about_ Prompto was adorable, really. Perfect. Everything that Noctis thought he could never have, but now it was his. Now _Prompto_ was his. His boyfriend. And he was Prompto's boyfriend and he was pretty sure that he was the luckiest person alive. Tracing his eyes along his boyfriend's frame, he finally turned around once he got to the window.

The Leville's windows were huge. Theirs took up the whole wall; it was taller than Noctis and more of a door to the balcony than an actual window. Noctis stepped outside, shivering against the late night air. His t-shirt was thin, and he'd just stepped away from the warmth of Prompto's arms, so it was a _little_ bit jarring, but it was also kind of nice. A pleasant shock to his system.

This trip had been the best idea he'd ever had. In the distance, even while the city slept, Noctis could still see the lights that wrapped around the lamp posts and the Ferris Wheel as it towered over the buildings. All of the decorations in his vision... maybe he would draw this when he got home, and title it 'Happy.' Because that was all he felt.

As he glanced down at himself, at the long black pajama pants and regular black t-shirt that he'd changed into—honestly, he wondered why they hadn't just opted to sleep naked. Maybe when they got back to the compound, though. Not here—he shivered again, took one last look around, and then pushed off from the balcony's railing to head back inside.

That was when the first jarring event happened. When he neared the window, he heard a loud rustling, as well as something in the room falling over. Immediately, he was on high alert. His eyes wandered the room, to where Prompto lay on the bed. Prompto looked a lot more sprawled than before. Completely sprawled, actually. He slept there, completely limp, with his arm and his leg hanging off the edge of the bed and his mouth hanging open unceremoniously. He looked more unconscious than asleep. Noctis' brows furrowed together, and he closed the door, jogging across the floor to get to the bed.

"Prompto?" he called, placing his hand on his boyfriend's arm.

No response. Okay, that was _really_ weird, and really scary, too. Prompto always woke up at the slightest prodding. To have Noctis touching him and have him not even move a muscle? That was freaky. He lifted Prompto's arm and tried to lay it on the edge of the bed, but all it did was roll off and fall to the floor. Panic really started to set in then. Noctis lifted Prompto's hand again, his fingers going to his boyfriend's wrist this time. He felt for a pulse, frantically searching for any sign that Prompto was still _alive_. The pulse came, and it was normal... but Prompto still wasn't waking up.

Leaning forward, Noctis placed a hand on Prompto's cheek. "Prompto? W-wake up. You're scaring me..." he murmured into Prompto's ear.

Still no response. Noctis' heart was hammering in his chest all of a sudden. What had happened? When Noctis walked outside, Prompto was fine. More than fine. He was _happy_! Smiling and curling back up to wait for Noctis to come back to bed. What had happened in the time between Noctis going to close the window and when Noctis came back inside? He glanced around the room for another clue, and reached down for his jeans on the floor to grab his phone from his pocket. He'd call the hospital, and then the someone on the compound. They'd know.

Except, when he reached for his pants, he noticed that his travel bag had been knocked over, opened, and completely ransacked. "What the..." Noctis reached down for it, picking it up and looking inside.

All of his clothes were gone, and strewn across the hotel room's floor. The only things he _didn't_ see from his bag were his sword and his Crystal Space crystal. Someone else had been in the room, in the brief moments that he'd been outside. Was someone else _still_ in the room? Noctis gathered his dirty jeans and took his phone from his pocket, turning his flashlight on and looking around the room frantically. Most of the room looked the same, albeit completely ransacked from bottom to top. He glanced over at the closet, which was open just slightly. Instinct should have told him to stay away, but it didn't. He glanced at his phone, turned the flashlight's brightness up a little higher, and tiptoed toward the closet.

"If someone's in there... I know you're there. You might as well just come out," Noctis murmured.

Except he didn't really know. Had the closet been open when they got to the room? Truthfully, Noctis hadn't really been thinking about _anything_ but getting to the shower with Prompto so that they could get clean. Well... sort of clean. Get clean while getting dirty. He shook that thought off, despite the fact that it was two hundred times more pleasant than worrying about what was behind the closet door, and tried to peer into the crack of an opening to see what—or who—was inside. Hopefully not who. Astrals did he hope that it wasn't a person.

Noctis reached down for the door handle, prepared to fight with _anyone_ on the other side. He pulled it back slowly, then flashed his flashlight upward and into the closet.

Immediately, he leaped back like the doorknob was on fire. It was someone, alright. Not only was it someone, but it was someone that he hadn't seen in _years_. Someone that he thought was _dead_ along with Nyx's team, back when Pelna died. "D-Drautos?" Noctis murmured, stepping forward and taking the door in his hand again.

Except, Drautos didn't answer. At least not with words. Noctis didn't even have time to react. Drautos rushed from the closet like some sort of monster from a horror movie, rushing Noctis at full speed before he had a chance to react, and pummeling him to the ground. Noctis lost grip on his phone and it clattered to the ground with a loud skittering noise that _definitely_ would have woken Prompto on a normal night. Noctis tried to fight back. He reached his hands up to push Drautos off of him. Drautos had an advantage, though. He was larger and taller, and probably stronger. With one hand, he easily held both of Noctis' hands together, and with his other, he reached into his coat for something.

"Do you know how _long_ I've been waiting?" Drautos seethed as he balled up a rag in his opposite hand. "I followed you around Lestallum days ago with Argentum, Tummelt, and Nox Fleuret, hoping that at _some_ point, you would be alone. I followed you that night at the Hollow, hoping that the daemons would knock you unconscious so that I could get you then. I followed you around here last night until I lost you in the crowd, and then it took me _all night_ to figure out where you went. And when I got back here, you were..." He shuddered dramatically. "I can not unsee what I saw. It took you so long to fall asleep."

Noctis writhed, trying to find some kind of escape route, kicked his legs wildly, and opened his mouth to shout for help.

Except, the second he opened his mouth to shout, the sound was muffled by the rag covering his nose and mouth. He turned his head and tried to get away from it, but before he could, Drautos jerked his face back into place with three of his fingers. "Besithia was very specific. He told me to get you and bring you in unconscious. Can't have you _not_ breathing this in."

Besithia? What did Besithia have to do with _any_ of this? Noctis tried not to breathe, but instinct was stronger than the desire to be defiant, and when his lungs emptied, he felt himself gasping in a heavy breath against his volition. He still tried to wrestle, at least for as long as he could. A couple seconds after he breathed in, though, he felt his brain getting foggy; he felt himself getting tired. Still, he wrestled with all of the mental wherewithal he had left, kicking out, trying to turn his head away from the rag over his mouth, and screamed muffled screams into it.

"It's funny, really. How fortunate it is that you and Argentum latched on to one another? Besithia was trying _so hard_ to find someone with enough darkness in them to fuel his experiments. Loqi was close. Very close. You, though? Even _without_ the help of their upbringing, you have _so much darkness_ in you that you're a veritable _goldmine_. With your help? Besithia should have Hour Twenty-Five lasting _all day_ in no time."

That, more than anything, was what made Noctis stop fighting. Well, that and the fact that he had inhaled enough of what was on the rag Drautos was holding to probably knock even Gladio unconscious. He held on by a thin thread while Drautos laughed softly, pressing the rag closer to his nose and mouth and forcing him to inhale it even deeper.

Drautos chuckled. "Don't worry, Caelum. When you wake up, you'll be so far away that you won't have to worry about your darkness tainting your precious friends anymore." Before Noctis edged into unconsciousness, the last thing he remembered seeing was Drautos' smirk as he climbed off of Noctis and stood up straight.

Noctis didn't know how long it was before the first time he blinked back into awareness. It was a hazy awareness, like something was holding him back from _properly_ being aware, but when even before he opened his eyes, he could tell that he was in a car. A car, a truck, _something_. He was on the move, at the very least. When his eyes opened—heavy... they were so _heavy_ —he saw a blurry image of a snowscape in front of him. A _vast_ snowscape. One that didn't seem to have an end. The sky was gray and cloudy, and it wasn't even until the second or third time Noctis blinked a lazy blink when he saw the separation of the sky and ground.

As much as he tried to move, there were dozens of things working against him. His brain felt like someone had coated it in a thick layer of cotton, and he felt like his body was floating, even as he rode in whatever vehicle he was in. Not only that, but his wrists were bound painfully behind his back—his biceps were also bound to his rib cage, keeping his arms firmly in place—and his legs were bound at the ankle and the knee, preventing any movement other than lazy attempts at shimmying. His right arm throbbed on the underside of his elbow, like when he got a shot at the hospital or when Besithia had taken blood from him or something like that. When he wriggled, he brushed his arm against his shirt and the pain made him grunt.

"Awake, are you?" A voice called from the front seat of the vehicle they were in. "Not for long."

Drautos? No. It wasn't Drautos. It wasn't even familiar, really. It held the same malice as Drautos' voice had, but it wasn't his. Noctis tried to steady his head to get a look at whoever it was, but it was hard enough to keep his eyes open. Keeping his head up and steady was another matter entirely. So, when he tried to lift it, it lolled all the way to the other side, laying against the headrest and looking at the passenger's side of the car.

His companion _was_ familiar. Honestly, with the way that Drautos had burst into the room, he half expected to see Prompto in the passenger's seat. He didn't. This person looked similar, but the hair was different, and they were just a little bit smaller. Loqi. Why was Loqi here, though?

The question game out as a groan from Noctis' stomach, and he tried to reach over to Loqi and wake him up, but his hazy brain and his jellylike body betrayed him and he ended up falling over instead. He sprawled across the back seat of whatever vehicle they were in, laying sideways on the seat and stopping just short of landing in Loqi's lap. He grunted out in frustration. What in the hell was going on? Who, other than Drautos, was in the car? And where were they taking him, and apparently _Loqi_ , too?

When he looked toward the front seat again, a vague image of burgundy hair entered his vision, and the man—the man from Piztala—laughed a gentle and amused laugh. "I knew you were a fighter back when I first saw you, dear boy. Go back to sleep. You'll be needing that energy when we get to where we're going, hm?" he cooed, reaching back from the passenger's seat and putting his hands on each of Noctis' arms to sit him back up straight. "No use fighting that drug coursing through your veins. It'll wear off when you're nice and secure in your new home."

Noctis tried. He _tried_ to fight it. The ropes keeping him in place, though, were tied too tightly and the drug coursing its way through his veins was way too strong. He wriggled in his seat a couple more times, turning to look at the man with the burgundy hair one more time as he chuckled an amused laugh at Noctis' expense and then turned around to sit comfortably in his seat.

"Both of them. Drautos. Fighters. I'm alarmed that Ulldor had as easy a time as he did with Tummelt."

Drautos laughed, too. "He didn't, actually. He wanted to be here with us but, he had to go to the hospital to attend to a broken arm that he got from Nox Fleuret and a broken nose from Tummelt here." He pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal, speeding up as Noctis teetered a little closer to unconsciousness.

The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness again was another soft note of laughter, and the burgundy-haired man musing, "fighters. The both of them. Besithia has his work cut out for him."

*

"Caelum!"

The voice was familiar, but it sounded like it was coming from a tin can and all the way across the room. Noctis tried to wake up. He was awake enough to hear the voice, but his brain and his body weren't agreeing on whether that was a good thing or not. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't open his eyes. They felt like they each had a thousand pound weight attached to them, and whenever he tried to lift his eyelids, it ended in failure.

Even before he opened his eyes, though, he realized how different his surroundings were from inside of the car. He was still bound, but differently. There was a coldness on either of his wrists and ankles, and harsh leather straps attached to his knees and elbows. A metal belt wrapped around his hips, holding him into place. It felt like he was upright or lying down, and his arms and legs were spread. His head hung down. He had to be upright. He tried to wriggle around, but the cuffs were locked painfully tightly around his wrists and ankles, and the straps almost cut off circulation to his arms and legs. Almost, but not quite.

The voice came again, clearer this time. "Caelum, wake the fuck up," the familiar voice shouted.

Noctis still didn't open his eyes. He tried to lift his head but, whatever the drug that the burgundy-haired man mentioned was, it was coursing through his veins pretty strongly still. Slowly, he struggled to lift his head, and then succeeded, except it fell back against the metal of whatever he was strapped to.

Everything that had happened rushed back to him in a wave. Lestallum. Prompto unconscious on the bed, helpless. That was finally what made him open his eyes. As soon as he did, though, he wished that he hadn't. The room was bright. Painfully so. It only occurred to him right then, though, that he'd opened his eyes while his head was facing upward, so he was looking right into the bright fluorescent overhead lights. He grunted and closed them again, before turning his head downward and forcing them open again. Looking straight ahead from where his head rested now, Noctis was surprised to see that he was in what looked like a cell. A cell with metallic walls. He turned his head just slightly, spotting a tiny barred window that was way too high to reach from the ground. Not that it would have mattered. He was trapped.

Finally, he struggled against his restraints, lifting his head and looking around the rest of the room. He stopped when, once again, he spotted Loqi. Loqi was bound, too, but much more freely. He was sitting in a chair, with straps on his ankles and wrists and a tight belt around his waist to keep him in place.

Noctis grunted again, before murmuring, "Loqi... wh-where are we?"

With a soft huff of humorless laughter, Loqi shrugged one shoulder. "Don't fuckin' know. Somewhere in Niflheim, I'm pretty sure. It looks like a torture chamber from one of those fucked up torture porn movies that people always try to get me to watch around Halloween. I know why we're here, though. And that's probably more important," he murmured, looking out at the cell's bars and urging Noctis to do the same.

The bars, while normal compared whatever few cell bars Noctis had seen before, locked them away from a laboratory. A really, really extensive laboratory, with more kinds of chemicals and beakers and test equipment than Noctis even knew existed. A chill overtook his body, even though it still felt like it was made of jelly, and he turned to look over at Loqi, before he said, "Besithia."

Loqi nodded. "Should've known something like this would happen," he muttered, twisting his body and then hissing when all he succeeded in doing was making the belt dig into his hip.

"Careful," Noctis warned him. No matter how he felt about the guy, Loqi was Prompto's brother, and Noctis didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

With a snort of annoyance, Loqi raised his chin at Noctis. "No shit," he responded. "You got any leeway over there?" He eyed Noctis' restraints. "Shit, what the fuck is it that you're _attached_ to? It looks like he's getting ready to fuckin' dissect you or something." A pause, a grunt, and then a murmured under-the-breath apology quickly followed.

Noctis shrugged. "I dunno. I've seen 'em before, I think, but I... I dunno what they're called..."

"Does it really matter?" Loqi snapped.

That took Noctis by surprise, and the sound of Loqi's voice echoed out in the room, spinning Noctis' hazy head a little more than he would have liked. Well, he didn't want it to spin at all, but _definitely_ not to the point when he wanted to grab hold of it in an attempt to steady it but couldn't. He puffed out a breath, then shot Loqi the most genuine glare he could muster. Truthfully, it ended up falling a little bit short, as he was more scared than anything. He swallowed nerves, then looked out at the laboratory again. On the table, just outside of the bars and within his reach if he could manage to get out of this stupid contraption, sat his Crystal Space crystal. With a nervous blink, he clamped down hard on his lower lip and looked back at Loqi. Part of him was hesitant to even call the other man's attention, but eventually, he came to the realization that if the pair of them wanted to get out of here, they more than likely needed to work together.

With that in mind, he swallowed his mind and said, "Loqi..." in a hissing whisper. Who knew who else was in earshot.

"What?" Loqi looked at him in annoyance. "Gonna ask me more about the origin of torture devices like I'd actually have an answer?"

Noctis rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No. My crystal is out there. Is there any way that you can possibly free yourself so that you can, y'know, reach it and bring it to me? If I can get us into Crystal Space, maybe my dad can help us figure out a way to get out of here." The others must have noticed that they were gone by then.

Loqi glared at him, annoyance clear on his face, and grunted. "Right. Because I can miraculously break through metal cuffs and a belt around my waist. I think we're both pretty well stuck here, Caelum." He looked angrily out at the table where Noctis' crystal sat.

It was hard to bite back a comment about Loqi actually trying to be _helpful_ rather than just sitting there and bitching, but somehow Noctis managed. His eyes cast around the room again, trying to find _something_ that he could use. It was dark out. Maybe he could call Bahamut from here and the dragon could help them get out.

"Bahamut, come to me!" he called out into the cell.

Nothing.

Noctis blinked. "Bahamut! Come to me!" This time, he spoke louder, clearer. Maybe his hazy mind had his voice sounding weird and it didn't sound like his usual Bahamut call. Except, once again, nothing happened. No aeon appeared in the room or outside of the window or _anything_. He grunted, then tried one last time. "B-Bahamut!" His voice sounded shaky in its panic. "Come to me! P-please!"

When Noctis glanced over at Loqi, the anger and frustration on his face had melted into worry. "Nothing?" he asked.

All Noctis could do was shake his head, staring down at the floor. "Not even that power swell that we usually get. It's like... it's gone. I don't know where it could've gone but..." He trailed off, turning his gaze to Loqi again and saying, "maybe you try? Odin's got a blade, so maybe-"

Nodding, Loqi pulled in a breath and called out, "Odin! Lend me your blade!" The sound echoed into the room, and Noctis looked around for any sign that Loqi's aeon may have been coming to help, but got nothing.

With a laugh that sounded way more amused than anything had any right to sound here, Noctis heard the echo of a slow golf clap coming from the other side of the bars. "I should have _known_ that you had an aeon, my son," Verstael's voice sounded out through the room, almost as loud as his clapping. "All that time where Nox Fleuret tried to convince me that you were fit for battle... it was all because he knew about your aeon, wasn't it?"

Loqi froze, and Noctis watched as he grew almost two shades darker in the face of his father. "F-fath-" He stopped, shaking his head hard. " _Besithia_." He recovered quickly, almost like all the information he'd learned over the past few weeks entered his mind all at once and reminded him that this man wasn't to be trusted.

It didn't seem like Besithia was too affected by it, though, because he simply chuckled at Loqi's defiance and strode across the room. He stopped at the desk and looked over at a couple of machines. "Very good. The drugs are wearing off for both of you. I need you to be completely lucid for the plans that I have." He paused and glanced at Noctis with a wry smirk. "Lucid. Lucis Caelum. I would say that I don't need to worry too much about you, but according to Drautos and my other friend, it took significantly more drugs to subdue you. They'll likely take a couple more days to _completely_ work their way out, but that's quite alright. I can use this opportunity to monitor your heartrate as things change and..." He trailed off, scribbling a couple of notes down in a notebook and setting it down on the table in his workspace.

"If you think that I'll willingly-"

Besithia cut Noctis off by pressing a button on the table. A jolt of electricity surged through him, making his whole body tense as he cried out in pain and arched his back from the metal rack restraining him. "Will, Caelum, has very little to do with the situation. As you can see, I have many ways of bending you to _my_ will." He turned the electric jolt off, and Noctis could feel the man's eyes on him as his head slumped back down. "If you'll look around you, you'll see all different kinds of ways that I can hurt you. You've felt the electricity, of course. I have ways to test your body's resistance to burning, to water... well, to anything I want to try, really." His tone was amused and conversational, like he wasn't _literally_ talking about torturing Noctis.

Before either Noctis or Loqi could reply, Besithia continued. "Now, if you'll look at your arm, you'll see that I already have a setup to get as much of your blood as I need to, and all of the things I need to monitor _every. little. thing._ about you." A snake's smile spread across the man's face.

Noctis narrowed his eyes as he tried to lift his head. "Fuck off," he seethed.

"You okay, Caelum?" Loqi asked, a surprising amount of concern in his voice.

Was he okay? His whole body cracked, but also ached like he'd just run three marathons in a row without a break. His teeth chattered and he had tears pouring down his cheeks even though he was far more _angry_ than sad. Was he _okay_? He wasn't. But he wouldn't let Besithia see that. He turned to Loqi, nodded once, then said, "fine..." in a shaky voice.

Besithia hummed a gentle note, scribbling a few things down in his journal. "You're made of tougher stuff than I expected, Caelum," he mused.

"What the fuck are you trying to accomplish, Besithia?" Loqi shouted, though his voice sounded way shakier and more nervous than Noctis had ever heard it before. "Caelum didn't do shit to you!"

With a chuckle, Besithia walked over to the table and gathered up Noctis' crystal. "Quite the contrary, really. Caelum and his insipid band of do-gooders put a very strong damper on my plans. Between tempting Argentum to their ranks, and then somehow managing to have Nox Flueret do their dirty work and get _you_ to turn against me? Of all the things I expected to see, Loqi, you running around with the very people you despise so strongly was _not_ one of them. Clearly, you need correction. Some jobs, only a father can do." Besithia huffed an amused chuckle.

Loqi narrowed his eyes. "Okay, one? You're not my father. More like I'm some weird test tube clone freak. Two? That still doesn't explain what Caelum did to you. Not like you give two fucks about me and Prompto anyway. We're nothing but dark tainted blood to you," he spat.

"Well, _you_ are, absolutely. Argentum is nothing but a failure, though."

Noctis raised his head again at that, his eyes narrowed to almost nothing. "Prompto is not a failure. He's all the more incredible for managing to survive all the years of _bullshit_ you put him through, and still come through on the other side as what he is. He's better than you. He's better than _all_ of us!" he hissed, though it was hard to make his voice sound as authoritative as he wanted it to while his body was still trying to expel the electricity.

Much to his surprise, a sound of agreement came from Loqi's chair. "Damn fuckin' right, Caelum," he spoke.

Besithia sighed. "Yes, I had observed that," he mused in a put upon tone. "The closeness between you and Argentum came as a great surprise to me, Loqi. I must say, I thought you had better restraint than that. The second someone shows you any kindness, you're all over them. I'm surprised you haven't tried to seduce Caelum because of it." He gestured broadly to Noctis, then looked at something on his desk again, before glancing back up at Loqi. "Another thing I'll have to correct, I suppose."

"Good fucking luck," Loqi grumbled. "I know everything now. That journal Ulldor dropped in Ravus' car-"

With a bemused chuckle, Besithia shrugged a shoulder. "The one I asked him to drop, yes."

While Loqi was shocked, at least a little bit, by the information, Noctis raised his head, forcing himself to glare at Besithia again as he spoke. "What do you mean, observed?" he asked.

Another jotted down note, and Besithia simply smirked. "I wondered if either of you would pick up on that. Observed. Argentum's camera? Do you remember when I had you fix it, Loqi? It was about... two years ago, after Highwind and Aurum bought him the new one and I hired those two people back in Hammerhead to break it."

Loqi didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter if you answer. I know you remember," Besithia continued. "I implanted a monitoring device in the camera. I've got it all set up to display right here." He pointed to a set of monitors over his head. "Everything Argentum has seen, I've seen. Everything he sees, we'll see. We'll check on that later, though. I can't believe _all the times_ I had to watch him almost kiss you, Caelum. You strung him along quite well, though. I'm impressed."

Narrowing his eyes, Loqi gnashed out against his restraints again, screaming an ear-piercing note that echoed through the room. "I swear to the _Astrals_ , Besithia, I will fucking _end you_!"

Besithia hummed an amused note and walked toward the cell. "Yes, yes. Bluster and bravery. Now. I've some new experiments to conduct, and they require just a bit of blood from each of you. So... if you don't mind... or even if you _do_ , I suppose... I'll be taking a bit. Don't worry, we'll start small. We want to ease your bodies into it, since you'll be here a good long time. Possibly forever." He turned toward a set of beakers that were connected to the tubes that went to Loqi's and Noctis' arms. The vials filled themselves, and he turned the machine off.

Noctis and Loqi exchanged looks as the machines stopped. Was this it? Was everything finished now? Had Noctis gone through everything he'd been through so far in his life... just to die here? He was torn, too, between hoping that his friends did come after him, or hoping that they didn't. He didn't care about what happened to him. If Noctis had to die to keep them all safe, he'd do it in half a heartbeat.

As long as they all stayed safe. _Please. Stay safe..._ he thought, trying not to let anymore tears come to his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >_> Don't say I didn't warn you...


	25. Muster

After the best night of his life, Prompto expected to awaken feeling like the world was at his fingertips. He expected to awaken feeling rested, maybe a little bit exhausted but mostly heavenly. The last thing he expected was to feel like he was hung over. That was what happened, though. As Prompto rolled over to an empty bed—the first time _that_ had happened in months—a ripping headache shot its way through his head. It felt like something was compressing his skull, and were he not familiar with this feeling, it would have scared him.

No, the fear didn't start until he opened his eyes and looked around the room.

Sure, he'd had a vague awareness that something wasn't right in the way that he'd rolled over and Noctis wasn't there. As long as they'd been friends, the times when Noctis woke up before Prompto could be counted on one hand. The fact that he wasn't in bed might have just meant that he'd woken up early, but Prompto doubted it. Especially as he cast his eyes around the room and saw the state of things. Noctis' bag was completely emptied out on the floor, his phone was laying face down on top of a towel, and the window was wide open. Prompto had vague memories of Noctis mentioning that he was going to close the window. Vague memories of rolling over and going back to sleep. Vague memories of... of feeling something in his space before he _got_ back to sleep. And then, he'd just passed back out.

Something wasn't right. That much was obvious. Prompto turned his head and glanced at the end table on his side of the bed. His phone sat there, with the display on. Almost like he'd just missed a call before waking up. That was really weird, actually. Usually, his phone could jar him out of the deepest sleep. That was why he'd chosen the ringtone he had. Picking his phone up, he checked its history, then blinked hard at all of the calls he'd missed.

Three from Cor, four from Weskham, five from Ignis, three from Ravus, two from Cindy, and two from Aranea. It was the _most_ unanswered calls he'd ever had ever had at once, and as he scrolled through his history, he found himself worrying more and more. His head turned toward Noctis' phone on the floor, and he walked over to pick it up as his thumb settled over Cor's number, since his was the most recent on the list.

Leaning down to pick up Noctis' phone made his head throb a little bit, but he tried to ignore it as he lifted Noctis' phone from the floor and looked it over. The screen was locked, but Prompto saw twenty missed calls. None of those had woken Prompto up, either. Not a single one. He blinked hard as he listened to the sound of his phone trying to call Cor's in the background. At first, he wasn't sure if Cor would pick up, but after several seconds, he finally answered, sounding equal parts relieved, angry, and winded when he spoke to Prompto.

"Kid! It's about time you called! We were just about to take off for Lestallum to check and see if the two of you were still kicking! Where's Noct?"

Prompto blinked. Not the greeting he expected, and the volume of Cor's voice made his ears ring a little bit after the man stopped speaking. The question had Prompto casting his eyes around the room desperately for any sort of answer. "I... I'm not sure," he answered, his voice getting shaky with panic. "C-Cor, I woke up and... and he's not here. I don't hear the shower running, so I don't think he's in there and all of his stuff is thrown around on the floor and his phone was on the floor too. He's not here and the window's open and I don't know what's going on!"

His panic had his ears ringing and his head throbbing, as he sat on the edge of the bed again with a dull thud. Casting his eyes around the room again, he clamped down hard on his lower lip. There was no way Noctis would have just gone through his stuff, grabbed something, then left, was there? Prompto's hand traveled down to his finger, to where the ring that Noctis had given him the night before was. The necklace hung around Prompto's neck, underneath his shirt, and he pulled it out to look at it.

Breathing a shaky breath, he turned his head to the open window. "He wouldn't have left, right Cor?" he asked.

Cor's end of the line was quiet for a few seconds, but then the man answered, "no. No way he'd have just left you, kid. If his stuff's strewn around, then it sounds like... it sounds like what happened here, happened there, too."

All Prompto could do at first was blink dumbly. What had happened there? It took a couple of seconds to click, because he was busy looking at the photo on Noctis' lock screen of the two of them at the carnival yesterday. They'd set it together in bed last night, after all of their fun had finished. He breathed in deeply, letting it out slowly, before he finally collected his brain enough to ask Cor what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

A couple seconds of silence passed—well, not silence, really, because Prompto could pretty clearly hear a couple of voices in the background; Ravus, Ignis, and Weskham, namely—before Cor spoke again. "Some stuff happened here, kid. Some pretty rough stuff, namely to Ravus and Loqi, and... Loqi's missing. A lot like with Noct, they incapacitated Ravus and Loqi both, ransacked their cabin, and your cabin, too, and made off with Loqi before any of us realized what was happening. Ravus woke up a few hours ago, then came to us and told us what happened. Pretty sure they tried to kill him."

In the background, Prompto heard Ravus say, "they did, actually. Ulldor only departed because he thought I was dead," in a low, threatening grumble. "Permit me to talk to Prompto, please, Leonis"

Prompto heard the phone shuffling, and then a terse greeting from Ravus, who then continued on to ask, "I heard Leonis saying that something similar happened there. Caelum isn't with you?"

Panic was really starting to rise now. "N-no. No, the... the exact same thing happened here, I think. Except I'm not sure that whoever did it thinks I'm dead. They just knocked me out with the same stuff they used to knock me and Noct out when they took our blood," Prompto explained as he moved his dry tongue around in his mouth. The exact same thing they'd used that day.

The silence on the other end of the line was too long; the only sign that the call hadn't ended somehow was the deep sigh he heard Ravus give. "I see," he murmured. "It's as I feared, then. Besithia has finally made his move."

It shouldn't have surprised Prompto as much as it did. Usually, when something went wrong in his life, his father's name wasn't too far behind. This was no exception, he figured. Despite the revelation, it brought Prompto no comfort at all. "What should I do? Should I call the police, or..." Or something else?

Ravus hummed a negative answer. "They likely won't find anything, since I'm under the assumption that the person sent to you is presumed dead," he answered, then went quiet again. "Are Caelum's keys anywhere near you? Do you think you can drive his car, or are you still too heavily affected by the drug?"

Yeah, Prompto still sort of felt the effects of what was going through his body, but at the same time, he was probably okay to drive. He looked around, finding the pants that Noctis had worn the night prior. They jingled when Prompto picked them up, and he fished around in the pocket to find Noctis' keys. "His keys are here," he answered.

"Come back to the compound, please. I will brief the others while you're gone, and then we can all brief you when you get here."

His tone really left no room for argument, but if someone had taken Noctis and in order to find him, Prompto had to leave Lestallum and go back to the compound? Then yeah, that was where he'd go. He nodded, then realized that Ravus was on the other end of the phone and not in front of him and gave an answer of, "okay. I'll be there as soon as I can," before the pair of them said their goodbyes and Prompto hung the phone up.

It was only then that he realized that his hands were trembling. The keys jingled in them, and he glanced around at all of Noctis' things on the floor. First, he needed to pack them up, then he needed to get dressed, then he needed to go home. As much as he wished he could just ignore everything and leave now... it wasn't possible. Though it _was_ possible to just scoop everything up and stuff it into Noctis' bag. He dressed himself in the simplest clothes he had—a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and a pair slip on sneakers—then tried as best he could to keep everything balanced in his arms as he made his way down to the lobby.

Checkout was a quick process. He couldn't really sign anything, and he didn't really want to tell the people at the counter exactly what had happened, but he still had to check them out of their room and continue to balance his and Noctis' bags on the way out of the hotel and through the streets of Lestallum. A couple of times, he almost dropped them as he wove his way through the crowd, even. Prompto wanted to be happy as he walked through the festival—even livelier in the daytime than it had been last night—but he couldn't. All he could think about was the fact that his best friend—his _boyfriend_ , now—and his brother were both missing.

Missing, and apparently kidnapped. Prompto swallowed nerves as he tried to remember exactly where Noctis had parked the car the night prior.

When he finally found it, he popped the trunk, put all their bags in, and then slid into the front seat. The driver's seat. It wasn't the first time he'd driven the car. Noctis had let him drive a few times after the first time several months ago when they were going to Galdin Quay, but this time felt far more urgent. Even more urgent because of the fact that he couldn't go as fast as he wanted to go. Traffic on the way out of Lestallum was practically at a standstill. He tried to go faster a couple of times, tried to at least get up to the speed limit, but he couldn't. He had to stop every time he got above ten miles an hour. With a whimper, he stood up in an attempt to see the front of the line. Honestly, at this rate, it might've been faster for him to walk back to the compound.

It took him way too long to get to the city exit, and when he pulled out of Lestallum and onto the streets surrounding it, he might have been going about fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit to get home. Even with that, a trip that should have taken him ten or fifteen minutes ended up taking him almost half an hour, and by the time he got out of the car, he was practically stumbling over his feet to get out.

In fact, at one point, he did just that.

Out of the car and onto the grass he tumbled, but he didn't let it faze him, instead scrambling to his feet and rushing to the lounge, to go down to the war room, where he expected the rest of the team to be.

He was right. As soon as he got into the lounge, Aranea and Cindy sprinted up the stairs to cut him off. Cindy wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, and Aranea stood a couple of steps behind with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked him over. "You okay, Skinny?" she asked, trying to look calm, but only partially succeeding.

"No," Prompto answered.

Cindy ran her fingers through Prompto's hair, then shook her head no. "'Course you're not, sweetie. Your boy and your brother're missing," she mumbled. "C'mon, okay? Let's get you downstairs, so Ravus can tell you what the plan is."

As they walked down the stairs, Cindy still had her arm around Prompto's shoulders, and Aranea squeezed his shoulder gently. "Gotta say, you reek of sex. 'Bout time the two of you hooked up," she teased, in a feeble attempt to ease Prompto's mind.

It didn't. Not even a little bit. Maybe it should have taken his mind off the situation. Instead, all he could think about was the fact that now that he and Noctis finally talked about their feelings, now that they realized how important they were to each other... Besithia was trying to take Noctis away. Maybe he had succeeded. Prompto didn't even know. All he knew was that this was usually the time that Noctis would take Prompto in his arms, hug him tightly, and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Prompto breathed a shaky breath and tried to smile in response to Aranea's joke, but it fell flat.

Instead, he ended up just looking at her with a weak grimace on his face. "Yeah," he muttered.

"It's okay, Prom. Don't feel like you need to put on a smile, okay? You're obviously worried, and with good reason," Cindy reassured him. "But don't worry too much, 'cause whatever happened to him, we're gonna get him back and then teach that wrinkly ol' sabertooth a lesson for tryin' to hurt your man. Ain't that right, 'Nea?"

Aranea nodded, pulling Prompto from Cindy's arms and hugging him tightly. "I promise, okay, Skinny? We'll get your boy back. We will," she murmured into his hair. "But maybe you should look into a shower first, 'cause you really do reek." She tried to make him smile again, by giving him a gentle noogie and leading him the rest of the way down the stairs.

When he got there, Iris greeted him with tear-streaked eyes. "Prompto! Thank the _gods_ you're okay! I was so worried!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around Prompto's neck.

As much as Prompto wanted to hug her back, and he did, it wasn't the usual eager hug that he would have given to her. He was still too worried, and he didn't even have all the information yet. All he knew was that Noctis and Loqi—arguably the two most important people in his life—were missing, and that Besithia was the prime suspect. Still, he didn't want to take his worry and frustration out on Iris. She didn't deserve it, and she'd already been so tense lately, even without it. So, he hugged her back a little bit tighter. Maybe he did need the hug right then.

"I'm fine." Not an exact truth. Not a remote truth, even.

Ignis, who was a couple of steps behind Iris, walked forward with his cane and placed a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "You're not, I'm sure. But that's absolutely fine. There's no rule that says you have to be," he murmured.

Of course, Ignis was right. Prompto released Iris, who pushed back from the hug and straightened some of Prompto's morning hair, before flashing him what was supposed to be a comforting smile and then bounding over to sit next to Crowe. She settled in next to her girlfriend and nestled into her shoulder, and Prompto felt a flash of envy crop up. Everyone—save for, of course, Ravus—had their person, and here was Prompto, without his... the very _day_ after they decided to actually be together. Prompto glanced over at Ravus, who was grumbling as he looked down at the journal in his hand. One of Besithia's, of course.

"I'm not," Prompto murmured, blinking hard to keep any tears from falling. "But I've gotta be. Noct needs me right now, and I'm... I've gotta save him. He's okay, right?"

As much as Ignis looked like he wanted to answer that yes, Noctis was definitely fine, Prompto saw the flash of doubt that crossed his face as he looked down at the floor. Just as quickly as it appeared, though, Ignis looked back up quickly and tried to nod like Prompto hadn't already seen the worry in his eyes. "Yes, absolutely. Noct is... he's stronger than he gives himself credit for." That, at least, Ignis spoke with certainty.

Except, Noctis had so much that he was afraid to tell the others. Prompto had seen him break down a couple of times. Once on the river, and once when he was talking about his father coming back to him. Most everything else, though, he kept bottled up. Besithia, Prompto knew, had this way of finding the things that you kept hidden the deepest. He had ways of finding them and exploiting them, pointing out your greatest fears and the flaws that you tried to deny. Noctis had plenty that he kept to himself, plenty that he tried to deny and push off to the side. Besithia might not have even had to try.

Suddenly, Prompto was all the more scared.

"There's something that I should've told you," Prompto admitted to Ignis, "something that Noct made me promise not to say, and... and now I kind of wish he hadn't."

From a few feet behind Ignis, that seemed to have caught Gladio's attention. He turned toward Prompto, walking over and sliding an arm around Ignis' shoulders. "More secrets, huh? Guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Noct never really learns his lesson when it comes to shit like this," he mumbled under his breath.

Ignis leveled Gladio with a look, then turned back toward Prompto. "What is it, Prompto?" he asked.

Sighing deep, sighing heavy, Prompto glanced around the room. "I should... I should tell everyone at once, if that's okay," he murmured, his eyes falling back upon Ignis and Gladio, before he stepped around the table, over to where Cor and Weskham were looking over some information on a map. "Guys. Noct and I made a discovery a couple of weeks ago. It was more Noct than me, but it's... it's kinda important. And probably why my dad—why Besithia—wanted him..." he told his friends.

As much as he wanted to just come out and say it, it almost felt like a betrayal. Noctis had made him promise. He _had_ promised. Now, though, he had a room full of eyes on him, waiting for information that he _knew_ it was the right thing to give. With a sigh, he swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, gave an internal apology to Noctis, and then turned to glance at Cor and Weskham, then over to Ignis. Without Loqi here, they were the most likely ones to know exactly what to do about everything. Maybe Ravus, Prompto thought as his eyes turned toward the man.

Ravus, though, had his eyes intently on the journal in his hand, and then he raised his head to glance at Prompto. "Noctis' blood," he spoke.

It made Prompto jump against his volition, but he swallowed nervously and nodded his head. "Y-yeah. That's... that's what this is about. His blood. We were hunting a couple weeks ago, and... and he got injured a couple of times because he wasn't really being as careful as usual. The way he explained it... the minute his blood touched the daemons, they went crazy. They like... attacked twice as hard. Two more got him. Remember, Cor? When you saw me in the supply room getting bandages for a couple of scrapes that Noct got on the hunt that night?"

"Yeah, I remember," Cor murmured. He sounded sort of mad, but more worried than anything else.

With an exasperated sigh, Ignis glanced over Ravus' shoulder at the journal. "So, we know that he deemed Loqi a success, as far as his experiments go. I'm assuming that this means that Noctis falls under the same category. That his blood is darkness in much the same way," he frowned. "Ravus, may I?"

Nodding, Ravus handed the journal to Ignis. "Please do. You and Loqi discussed the encryptions at far greater lengths than he and I did. Or perhaps you just understood them better," he laughed a humorless note.

Now that Prompto was really looking at Ravus, concern spread across his face. A couple of places on his prosthetic were broken—it looked like someone had tried to fix it, probably Cindy—half of his face was bruised, and he had bandaging on his hand and a black eye. Unlike Prompto, Ravus had actually tried to fight off the person who had attacked Loqi. Of course he had. Ravus was a hundred times braver than Prompto could ever dream of being. Without the journal in his hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled in a heavy breath. Luna, to his right, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It all makes sense now," Ignis spoke in a tone that said, at first, that he didn't realize that he was speaking out loud. "All of these times that he put 'inadequate' under Prompto's samples, and then 'consistent' under Loqi's... these samples are Noctis', the ones with no real discernable label on them. And they're all labeled things like 'ideal,' 'likely,' and 'perfect.' So... Noctis' blood is the darkness he's looking for."

Weskham frowned. "We had feared as much. Cor and I had been discussing ways to keep Noctis out of the field while we researched it, but we knew there were few. That he would likely have snuck out on his own, even if We had. We also have vague worries, in regard to what happened the night Clarus and Regis passed away." He turned to glance at Cor.

The look on Cor's face was a thin-lipped frown, and he nodded his head once Weskham finished speaking, placing a hand Weskham's shoulder. "As soon as the daemon attacked him, as soon as the blood touched the daemon's blade, it went crazy. We were never sure why until now," he muttered.

Prompto looked down at the floor. Gods did he hate to think that anything about Noctis was dark. It felt so wrong.

With his hands balled into fists, Gladio continued. "And the fucker has been usin' the samples he got from Noct to make the daemons we fight go fuckin' nuts. So... that's why there's been an increase, then?" he asked, turning to look at Ignis with anger lighting a fire in his eyes. "Besithia, that fuckin' son of a bitch. I'll rip his head off and..."

A part of Prompto wondered if, maybe, he felt partially responsible for all of this. His fight with Noctis had been a major source of Noctis' sadness over the past year or so. It made sense that he'd be angrier than everyone else. Whatever Prompto expected him to do next, though, he never expected what actually happened. Practically growling, still spitting out a stream of expletives that Prompto could only blink in response to, Gladio turned on his heel and stormed out of the war room, slamming the door so loud that it echoed through the room after he left.

Iris was on her feet, too. "Gladdy, wait!" she shouted after him.

Both she and Ignis took off after him, though Ignis was slightly hobbled by the cane he still used to walk. Prompto turned to look at Cor and Weskham, the latter of whom was rushing out the door between Gladio, too, and then turned around to glance at Cor. Luna turned to Nyx as she pulled herself to her feet, pulling in a slow breath. "Nyx, love. Can you please take Crowe and go help the others keep Gladio from doing anything foolish, while the rest of us discuss what we're going to do here?"

With a nod, Nyx pressed a kiss to Luna's cheek, squeezed Prompto on the shoulder, and then he and Crowe departed the room in a rush.

Honestly, Prompto didn't want to waste his time planning right now. All he really wanted to do was run out the door, pile into the cars, and rush to Niflheim. That was where his dad was. That was _definitely_ where Noctis was. So, what was there to plan? They just needed to pile into the cars, drive to the ferry, go back to Altissia, and then drive through Niflheim. Each new thing Prompto said made his heart sink even further. That was a long way. A really long way. Not to mention the fact that they didn't even know where Besithia's laboratory was when they got there.

Luna, of course, could still locate them. Maybe not from here. _Probably_ not from here, actually. She could still locate them, though.

"I will likely need to be at least _in_ Niflheim before I can pinpoint a location," she reminded Cor. There was no hesitation in her voice, and Prompto found himself all the more glad that she'd recovered as much as she had in such a short time. "It may take us time to get there, but if we leave now, we can be in the country in two days."

Two days. Two days that Noctis was stuck with Prompto's dad. _Two days_ that Noctis might be dead, and Prompto would never know. Two days. His heart sank, he could almost feel it dropping out through his stomach, and his eyes welled with tears as he looked at Luna sadly.

In a voice that sounded more pathetic than anything, he whimpered, "two days?" Even as he finished speaking, the tears he had been trying desperately not to cry this whole time were blurring his vision. He felt Cindy wrap her arms around him again, and Aranea from the other side, and that was all it took to finally get him to let them go. Out they came, pouring like a waterfall onto Cindy's shoulder. "Wh-what if Besithia kills him before then? What if we g-get there and he-"

Ravus—though Prompto could almost feel Aranea's glare from behind him—placed his hand on Prompto's shoulder. "I do not believe that Besithia intends to kill either of them, Prompto," he reassured.

"How d'you figure?" Cindy asked, her voice hopeful.

Turning to Luna, looking for a little bit of encouragement which she readily gave, Ravus turned back to them and sighed. "They are both more valuable to him alive, Cindy." It was weird, hearing Ravus call Cindy by her first name, but that was what he did. "If he kills them, he will never be able to find any more fresh blood like theirs for his experiments. I am reasonably certain that they will be kept alive, though they will not be... they will not be _okay_ when we find them." His expression fell, and Prompto looked up at him, realizing in that moment that Ravus had at much at stake here as he did.

So, Prompto gently eased his way out of the hug with Cindy and Aranea, then stepped up to Ravus. "We'll..." he looked up at the man—easily almost a foot taller than Prompto—and tried to show a confident look through his tears. "We'll save them, Ravus. I promise." And without warning, without provocation, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Ravus in a tentative hug.

At first, it didn't look like Ravus was going to do anything, let alone hug him back. Eventually, though, and much to Prompto's surprise, one arm loosely hugged him back. "Yes, Prompto. We will. That I can promise both of us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the kids desperately need hugs, tbqh.


	26. Ridicule

It could have been hours. It could have been _days_. Noctis had no idea how long he'd been strapped here anymore. The drug was still sort of affecting his mind, though not to the degree it had been earlier, when he couldn't even lift his head anymore. Now, though, his muscles were starting to ache. He would move them as much as he could, which really wasn't too much, in an attempt to keep them from completely stiffening... but it wasn't enough. Every now and then, he would watch the tube that was connected to his forearm fill up with red, pumping his blood into the machine that Besithia never strayed too far from.

Honestly, however long it had been, it felt like the situation had completely torn the fight out of both of them. Once in awhile, he'd see Loqi thrash around a little bit against his restraints, like the fight would come back and then disappear over the course of a few seconds. Noctis understood. He really did. He was feeling much the same.

As he looked around again, he watched as Besithia picked up a crystal from the pile near where he'd been working, and then picked up a syringe of Noctis' blood. "You know, Caelum," he spoke, his voice taunting as he dripped a bit of the blood from the syringe onto the crystal, "your blood is quite unique. Loqi's took so much time. It took so much work to cultivate him into who he is. Nothing but darkness. Incapable of loving anyone but himself. Your darkness is a bit different. Maybe that's what makes it so special. You love everyone around you so much, all of your friends, all of your family, my poor failure of a son-"

"Shut up!" Noctis cried out, trying to thrash out again.

It did no good, though. Besithia kept talking, humming a mocking laugh, "-so much. You would willingly lay down your life to keep them all safe in a heartbeat. Even Loqi, with whom you have fought with on two separate occasions. You are almost everything that is _supposed_ to make up light. So close to being the antithesis of everything that I strive to create in the world. The only person in your pathetic little family you do not love, though, is yourself." He picked up the crystal, displaying it to both Loqi and Noctis and smiling a cruel smile at them.

As he displayed the crystal, Noctis watched in horror as his blood seeped through it. It went from bright blue to a deep reddish purple, and in the middle, the purple swirled into a cloud, almost like his blood was corrupting it. His heart sank. Darkness. Not only was his blood a daemon energy drink, apparently, but his blood was so corrupted by darkness that it could turn a crystal into a swirling cloud of purple in the middle. Was that why all of Bahamut's attacks were purple? Noctis couldn't remember if he'd ever seen Odin fight. Were Odin's attacks purple, too? The questions made his head throb, and he turned his head away from the crystal in an attempt to block it from his mind.

" _So close_ to being the antithesis to all of it, but because you hate yourself _so much_ , because you can _never_ forgive yourself for a single thing you've failed at in your entire life, look at what you do to crystals. Look at what you do to daemons. Caelum, between you and Loqi, you may be _exactly_ what I need to see my plans finally come to fruition."

From across the room, Loqi hissed, "what, suddenly I'm not enough on my own?" in a sarcastic voice.

Besithia chortled a gentle laugh. "Close, my son-"

"Don't call me that," Loqi spat.

Again, Besithia continued, "-but again, as you so often do, you let me down. Your blood is quite potent. Potent enough to have kept the daemons outside of Hammerhead strong for years. For my purposes, though, I need something quite a bit stronger. Which is why, I will take your blood and _mix_ it with Caelum's. That should be enough to do _exactly_ what I need it to." He was practically giddy as he spoke. "Of course, the problem now is finding the ratio of blood, how much I will need from each of you. Too much could be catastrophic. Not enough and it won't work."

The anger on Loqi's face was familiar to Noctis. He'd seen it more than once, both times that they'd fought. He was endlessly surprised, though, to see it directed at Besithia like it was. "What in the _hell_ are you hoping to accomplish with all of this? I thought—or, I _used_ to think—that all of your research was just to learn more about daemons and what makes Hour Twenty-Five tick. Why it exists..." he trailed off.

Used to think. That was probably why he and Ravus had struck out on their own and opted to join the team, because they learned it wasn't true, Noctis figured. Suddenly, a flash of sympathy rose up for Loqi. No, he didn't exactly make life easy for _Prompto_ , but so much of his life was spent in service of a man who had never been fully honest with him. Now, not only was he finding out that _that_ much was a lie, but he was finding out that all of the blood he'd given his father had been used to strengthen daemons outside of Hammerhead. Daemons that, probably, he and Ravus had hunted at some point.

"No, no. It started that way, but that was decades ago. Before you were created," Besithia murmured, waving a hand dismissively at Loqi as he put the crystal back down on the counter. "Part of me is hesitant to discuss my new plan, but I suppose there isn't terribly much that either of you can do about it. A friend—Loqi, you remember the gentleman that used to stop by the apartment when you and Argentum were children—approached me a couple of decades ago, and pointed out exactly how we could extend Hour Twenty-Five," he explained.

Noctis narrowed his eyes. They knew that much, of course. They'd figured that out weeks ago, but without any sort of lead as to where Besithia was, they couldn't really seek him out. Luna's power was limited to people that she knew well enough to seek their aura out, and since he'd cut Loqi off when Loqi moved to Lestallum, well... that was out, too. As much as he wanted to tell Besithia that he was telling them what they already knew, he had to admit that he was a little bit afraid to. His body still burned a little bit from the electric shock that Besithia had hit him with however long ago, and he worried about what else the man was capable of.

It seemed like Loqi held none of the same qualms, though. "Yeah, yeah. We figured that part out," he seethed.

For a second, Besithia almost seemed impressed. He arched an eyebrow, turning around to glance at Loqi in intrigue. "You did? None of what I left behind had anything to do with that. How exactly did you come to that conclusion?" he asked, stepping a little bit closer to the control panel that he'd used to shock Noctis before.

"Yeah. Like I'll answer that." Loqi snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes. "May be cloned from you but I'm not as stupid as you are."

Besithia hummed a laugh. "I suppose you're not, are you?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the control panel.

Noctis wasn't sure what he was expecting. Loqi was the one who had refused Besithia information, so a part of him expected that maybe _Loqi_ would be subjected to some sort of physical trauma this time, but he was proven wrong. As soon as Besithia's finger clicked a button, the cuffs around his wrists started steadily heating up. Steadily, quickly, and _painfully_. At first, it was just a little bit of a burn, and Noctis hissed through it, gritting his teeth.

Though it hurt, Noctis kept enough of his mental wherewithal to say, "don't. tell. him," through gritted teeth.

The brave front lasted only a couple more seconds, though, when the cuffs heated up more and more, tightening around Noctis' wrists and searing his skin. It was impossible not to scream. His screams echoed through the metal room as the cuffs tightened more and more, and he tried—he tried _desperately_ —to keep his cool so that Loqi wouldn't have to reveal what his crystal, the one that Besithia had, really did. Noctis wanted to scream for Loqi not to listen, for him _not_ to tell Besithia about Crystal Space and about Noctis' dad. He couldn't really do anything more than just writhe and hiss in agony, though, at the feeling of the burning on his wrists.

Then, in a panicked voice, Loqi answered Besithia. "The crystal! That crystal you have! It leads to a place that only Caelum can go called Crystal Space and..." He stopped there, just for a second, before turning to look back at Besithia. "Caelum's father told us about your plans. That's how we know," he answered, spite in his voice. He turned to look at Noctis in concern, his eyes quietly asking Noctis if he was okay.

And just like that, the burning stopped. Or at least Noctis wanted to _say_ that it stopped. The heat on the cuffs reduced, though, and then turned to a gentle cooling—and an odd healing—sensation. Hurt him, then heal him. Noctis still felt the burn of the cuffs on his wrists, but it dulled to a thrumming ache as the skin mended. Beneath the skin, not over it. What was worse, maybe, was the fact that now Besithia knew about Crystal Space. Not that it mattered. He couldn't _get_ there without Noctis' help, and he couldn't really do anything about it from there, because Noctis' dad was already dead. Still, now he knew. Now he knew how important the crystal was.

Just as soon as the thought entered his mind, Besithia slowly strode toward it, his lips curling into a malicious smile. "I knew that this crystal was important," the man murmured as he picked the bright blue crystal up, "but I had no idea _how_ important it was." As he examined it, he turned to glance at Noctis with a wry grin on his face. "Interesting. Well. We can't have this interfering, can we?"

Slowly, deliberately, Besithia moved toward the section of his bench where several tools lie. Most of the tools looked like medical things, but in his periphery—because Noctis couldn't turn his head that far on the rack that he was on—he saw Besithia pick up a large hammer. It looked like the hammer that Ignis and Weskham used to tenderize meats when they cooked, and Noctis' eyes sprang open as wide as saucers as he regarded it.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Noctis whimpered.

Besithia set the crystal on the counter. "Simple," he explained. "We can't have anyone pulling you away from this place, and as long as this crystal exists, the risk of that is very real. So..." Without a moment's hesitation, he lifted the hammer up and over his head, smashing it down onto the crystal and shattering it into tiny pieces of dust on the counter.

That, more than the burning on his wrists, was what broke Noctis down. Tears sprang to his eyes instantly. His crystal. His father. He knew, of course, that the crystal wasn't _really_ his father, but it was his key to _seeing_ his father. It was the only way that he could ever see his father again, and Besithia had just smashed it to pieces like it was nothing. That shattered mass of crystal on the counter may as well have been Noctis' heart. He watched as Besithia swept the crystal pieces from the counter and into the garbage. With watery eyes, Noctis glared at Besithia. Maybe it would have been easy to blame Loqi, but Noctis didn't. For all he knew, Besithia was about to burn Noctis' hands off.

With a thoughtful hum, Besithia glanced over at Noctis. "It occurs to me, Caelum. You awakened in an unnatural way, did you not? Did you ever face your daemon self?" he asked.

Initially, Noctis' plan was to refuse to answer. When all that earned was a quick touch to the control panel and a zapping shock to his spine, he hissed in pain again. The shock lingered while Besithia spoke, and Noctis tried to stretch his back out of his reach, but it was difficult to do without freedom of movement.

Besithia drummed his fingers along the control panel, hovering close to the buttons, and then glanced at Noctis in appraisal, before writing a couple of things down and then stepping a little bit closer to the bars. "I need you to understand how serious I am, Caelum. I do not _wish_ to cause you excess harm, but if you fight me every step here, you will leave me with little choice."

Again, as soon as the shock stopped, an aura of healing came from the same electrode that had shocked Noctis' back. He swallowed, thick and heavy, before turning his eyes down to the floor. He didn't want to look at _either_ of them. Besithia because, obviously, the man was the whole reason they were here to begin with. Loqi, on the other hand… he felt almost ashamed for being weak like this in front of Loqi. Maybe he shouldn't have. Maybe Loqi wouldn't have judged him harshly. At the same time, though, maybe he _would_ have, and it wasn't really a chance that Noctis wanted to take.

"Now," Besithia murmured, unlocking the cell. "I will pose the question one more time, Caelum, and you will answer me this time, else receive a far worse consequence. Are we clear?"

Loqi, much to Noctis' surprise, narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand why this is important, Besithia. Whether he did or didn't face his daemon self, it isn't like he can call his aeon, for whatever reason," he seethed, glaring as Besithia crossed the room to stand in front of the rack that Noctis was strapped to.

Turning to glance at Loqi, Besithia hummed an exasperated note. "I thought I had taught you better than this, my son-"

"Don't call me that," Loqi repeated, anger in his voice.

Another sigh, and Besithia shrugged his head to the side. "Whether I call you that or not, it does not change the truth. Does it not bother you, Loqi, that Caelum is the only one who hasn't had to deal with facing his daemon self? I'm assuming that, since you have your aeon, you fought against my permission, yes?"

Loqi didn't answer, but Besithia didn't shock _him_ with electricity or burn his wrists. That was okay. Let Noctis take it.

"Answer or not, that's fine. I know the truth." Besithia turned to look at Noctis. "You, on the other hand, _will_ answer me or face severe consequences. You did not face your daemon self. Did you?"

Maybe it was a stupid decision. Maybe Noctis would regret it, because Besithia would go to the other side of the open cage door and activate some device to hurt him and then heal him again. Noctis didn't give a fuck at this point. He quickly swirled his tongue around in his mouth, collecting saliva, and then spitting it out in Besithia's face.

When all that earned was a laugh from the man—a vicious laugh, as he wiped his face—Noctis was instantly concerned. Besithia didn't speak, just slowly made his way out of the cell, slamming the door shut. Noctis half-expected him to go over to the control panel and turn on something that would burn him, shock him, cut him, _something_. He didn't, though. Instead, he just walked over to a panel of screens and flipped a switch. "I suppose, it matters not whether you answer me, Caelum," he told Noctis. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave for a little while. A meeting, you see. So you're not _bored_ while I'm gone…"

As soon as he finished speaking, the screens he sat in front of lit up, all of them with the same image. A low, moving image of the interior of Noctis' car from the back seat, and Ignis and Gladio sitting in the front. Prompto's camera. The image was bouncy and a little bit weird, the angle and the fact that it would occasionally focus on the back of the driver's seat when he was turned a certain way, but it was definitely Prompto's camera. Noctis felt worry culminating in the pit of his stomach.

How much did Besithia know, because of this? Did this mean that… "you knew all along that it was Prompto, Ignis, and Luna who broke into your office," Noctis murmured.

"I did," Besithia told Noctis as he started toward the door. "I also knew that Scientia drove himself stupid trying to figure out my codes. A part of my plan. With your smartest member incapacitated, completely devoted to researching things he could never truly answer, then you would be completely lost for far longer than usual. I must admit, even I'm surprised at how long it took him to come out of it." An amused chuckle, as he gathered his coat from the coat rack.

Loqi narrowed his eyes. "So, then you've pretty much seen all of Caelum and Prompto's lives for the past couple months. And you heard the conversations I had with Prompto when we-"

A low hum was Besithia's answer. "About your terrible horrible father and how he pitted you against one another from birth, you mean? Yes. I would expect such talk from Argentum. You, though. I must say, I'm shocked. I thought I had earned a little more gratitude than-"

"Fuck you!" Loqi snapped. "You know what you've earned, you fucking coward? You've earned me breaking out of these straps and ripping your fucking head off myself! Prompto's better than both of us. _Definitely_ better than you. So, you can go _fuck right off_." When he finished, he started thrashing again, fighting desperately against his restraints and trying in vain to make some sort of headway with loosening them.

Noctis knew it wouldn't happen, but he also knew how Loqi felt. Well, he both did and didn't. Noctis turned his head back toward Besithia, who simply chuckled under his breath while Loqi thrashed, while Loqi practically _screamed_ in the attempt to free himself, and then walked casually out of the room. As soon as the door closed, Noctis turned to Loqi and mumbled, "he's gone."

Another grunt as Loqi tried to writhe around in his chair was the only response Noctis got at first. "You think I give a shit? You think that show was just for his benefit? I want to snap his fucking neck, Caelum. I want to… I…" he trailed off, and like a deflated balloon, the fight drained right out of him again as he slumped down in the chair.

With a nod, Noctis agreed, "me too, Loqi. All we've got to do is figure a way out of this, and we can figure it out from there. Right?"

"Dunno about you, but I don't see shit for ways to get out of this, Caelum. We're fucking stuck here, unless you can magically break through metal." Loqi blinked slowly, then turned his head away from Noctis like he was trying not to cry.

As much as Noctis didn't want to admit it, he was right about that. They were stuck. Noctis couldn't get off this rack, Loqi couldn't get out of his chair, and in the background, the blood machine went off again, sucking another syringe out of each of them. Noctis yanked that arm a little, wishing he could get the tube out of his flesh, but he couldn't.

Loqi frowned. "Wish I'd realized all of this sooner. Wish I'd realized how great Prompto is. Could've told him and avoided all this bullshit," he murmured, his voice thick and heavy with tears.

That, Noctis figured, was some common ground that they had. Loqi had spent his whole life not wanting to be Prompto's brother, but Noctis had spent the past few months _wanting_ to be with Prompto and being too much of a coward for it. With a bitter laugh, and a blink to conceal some tears of his own, he nodded his agreement.

"Tell me about it," Noctis murmured. "If I'd known... if I'd..." He thought back to the night prior—or was it two nights prior? Noctis wasn't sure—at the festival with Prompto, how amazing everything had been. It was classic. Every single time something was going right, every single time Noctis was really happy, something went wrong.

This time, the something was pretty big.

Sighing, he tried to wriggle in position again as he looked down at the cement floor in front of him. "If I'd known, I'd probably have told Prompto how much I love him way sooner. He deserves to know, y'know? He deserved to know as soon as I realized, and..." He stopped short, turning his head to look up at Loqi and clamping down on his lower lip. "Sorry. I know you probably don't wanna know, I just-"

Loqi shrugged. "What else are we gonna talk about? Not like we've got anything else in common, other than Prompto. So," he huffed out a sad chuckle.

Yeah, he had a point. Noctis shrugged his shoulders. Or, at least he tried to. He really couldn't in this position. "You picked out a good outfit for him, by the way," he murmured, thinking back to dancing with Prompto, to everything about that night.

"I know, right? Much better than the usual crap he wears," Loqi mused. Though he still looked mad, there was a fond smile on his face as he turned to look back at Noctis. "If we ever do manage to get out of this, you should let me take you shopping, too. There's other colors in the world than black, you know?"

Take Noctis shopping? That earned a quick blink from Noctis. "Thought you hated me," he pointed out.

With another shrug, Loqi answered, "I do. But you're fucking my brother, right?" he asked.

A dusting of red crossed Noctis' cheeks, and he bit his lip again. "Yeah," he answered. "Dating him, actually."

Loqi made a face. "Okay, that's great. More than I needed to know. But anyway, that probably means you two idiots are gonna be glued to each other, which means that you'll be around me, which means that I'm not gonna be stuck looking at your Edgelord ass in all black all the time," he muttered.

Somehow, even in the situation they were in, Noctis managed a laugh at that. Both at the fact that apparently the fact that he was dating Prompto was too much information, and the fact that Noctis' wardrobe was apparently a major point of concern for Loqi. Those insults didn't really _seem_ like his typical ones. They were sort of annoying, sure, but Loqi smirked through them, rather than scowling at Noctis. Plus, he'd actually offered to take Noctis shopping, which meant that maybe he didn't hate Noctis as much as he claimed to. Maybe he was wrong. Even if he was, though, it didn't really matter.

"Yeah, alright. Not gonna let you pay for me like you did with Prompto, though," Noctis answered.

With a snort, Loqi countered, "wasn't offering, anyway."

Noctis was about to take a look around again. To glance around the room and try and look for another way to get the two of them out of there. When he lifted his head, though, he caught sight of the door as it swung open. In his periphery, he spotted Loqi looking up at it, too. No one came in right away, and for the quickest of seconds, Noctis allowed himself to hope that maybe it was the team. Maybe Luna hadn't had trouble finding them from Lestallum or something, and maybe the team had driven through the night. A glance at the monitors quickly told him that wasn't the case.

They still showed the group driving through what, from the very little bit Noctis could see, looked like Longwythe. He could just barely see Longwythe peak as the car passed by it. So, unless the footage was on some kind of time delay, there was no way that it could be them. Noctis turned his head back to the door.

It was Loqi who spoke up, though. "If that's you trying to freak us out, Besithia, you're gonna have to try harder than that," he seethed at the door, though Noctis could almost sense the anxiety coming off of him.

The bravado wasn't genuine, but Noctis also understood it. He probably would've done the same thing, if he'd been the one to speak first. Any bravado from Noctis would have been a pretty serious mistake, though. The door made contact with the wall as it swung open, and the person who stepped in wasn't Besithia at all. It was...

"What the _hell_?" Loqi announced from the chair.

Noctis blinked. He was face to face with _himself_. On the other side of the bars stood a daemon version of himself. It looked almost identical, other than the fact that its eyes burned a bright, crimson red, like most other daemon selves did. The daemon was dressed from head to toe in jet black; a black t-shirt with a black leather jacket over the top, almost like the one he'd worn when he'd met Prompto, black jeans, and black boots. The daemon's hair was styled in Noctis' usual style, too. The only glaring difference that Noctis could see was the fact that the daemon had a curling, wicked grin on its face as it regarded the pair of them.

His daemon self. Besithia had just been asking Noctis about his daemon self, and now, here it was. He tried to look outside the open door, to see if he could see any sign of Besithia, but when there was none, Noctis realized that either the man was gone, or he was observing from elsewhere.

"Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into, isn't it?" the daemon asked Noctis, leaning sideways onto the bars of the cell. "Pretty classic for you, though. You are Noctis, prince of screw-ups and king of getting other people hurt."

With a snort of laughter, Loqi raised his chin at the daemon. "Hey, your daemon self's more of an Edgelord than you, Caelum," he murmured at the daemon.

The daemon turned to look at him with a pitying look. "You laugh now. What you don't realize, though, is that when I'm through with this sad sack? Daddy Dearest won't need you at all anymore. Then what? He'll axe you. Just like Nox Fleuret always warned you that he wanted to do. Your days—hell, even your _hours_ , probably—are numbered, so I'd start saying your prayers or what the fuck ever to atone for all the bullshit you've put people through." Then, it turned away from Loqi, looking back at Noctis in pity.

Noctis wiggled in his restraints, though he knew exactly how useless it was, and then looked away from the daemon. Maybe, if he didn't look at it, it wouldn't be able to say anything or do anything to psych him out. It proved useless, though, when the daemon grabbed a key from the counter and unlocked the cell doors.

"What, did you think that your chosen one status was enough to get you out of meeting me?" The daemon strode across the cell floor, its footsteps echoing out through the room.

Just as it reached Noctis' side, the sound of a cell phone ringing came over the speakers from the cameras, though. All three of them—Noctis, Loqi, _and_ Noctis' daemon self—looked up at the screen when the sound filled the room. On the screen, Noctis watched as Prompto turned until his camera just barely caught sight of Ravus on the phone.

"Luna? ... How many? … How far? … I see. And we truly can't ignore it. Alright. Yes, I'll tell them."

Ignis' voice came from the front seat. "Daemons?" he asked.

Ravus' answer of "yes. A very powerful spike almost out of nowhere, on Piztala Beach. Lunafreya says that she senses at least two, at most three, different daemon selves, as well as another daemonized animal," was exactly what Noctis _didn't_ want to hear.

More daemon selves? And Noctis' was right here. The team was at Piztala Beach. Noctis' mind spun at all of the information that he'd gotten at once, and then he watched as Prompto tugged his camera over his head to leave in the car. Panic rose up, coursing through Noctis' veins and making him wish that _maybe_ there was some way that Prompto could hear him. He'd scream for them not to go, scream for _something_ , honestly, because the idea of Prompto running into a fight with a possible three daemon selves and _some_ kind of daemonized animal...

"You know," Noctis daemon self, who was craning its head to look Noctis dead in the eye, his lips curling into a grin again. "Any single one of them doesn't make it back? _Anyone_ gets hurt? It's all your fault."

Loqi fought against his restraints again and grunted. "Don't listen to it, Caelum! C'mon, you may be an idiot but you're not an _idiot_! They'll be fine, and you know it!" He called out.

The daemon narrowed its eyes, then walked across the floor, backhanding Loqi in the face. "Do the world a favor and _stop running your mouth_ for _two seconds_ , you fucking whiny asshole," it snapped at him.

It didn't faze Loqi, other than to make him recoil just a little bit after the daemon's hand made contact with his face. "Why? Afraid I'll remind him of the truth? He's seen enough daemon selves to know what their game is. He's seen daemon selves tougher than you, so how about you _cut the shit_!" Even though he was at a disadvantage, and the daemon leaned over him with the threat to crush him, Loqi didn't stop.

"Your fault too, you know," it pointed out nonchalantly as it glanced back over at the screen again. "They're coming this way to save the two of you. So yeah. Anything happens to that _brother_ of yours or Nox Fleuret? Or Amicitia or Scientia or Altius? That's on you. Just as much as me over there." It pointed over at Noctis with its thumb.

The smirk on Loqi's face was wry. "Then you're obviously underestimating them. They're not gonna die. They're all gonna be fine, and then they'll come here and _kick your ass_ ," he seethed in the daemon's face.

It was surprising to Noctis, to see Loqi so sure. He turned to glance back on the screens, at the emptiness of Piztala Beach's night sky that they displayed, and nodded his head. Loqi was right. They wouldn't die. They _couldn't_ die. Not when all of them were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the moment, this is the last chapter I have written. Dwindling feedback and some rather nasty feedback in what I _have_ gotten have spurred me to take a short break from this story, but I'll be back to it soon! ♥


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